Back to You (Sweetbriar Cove Book 12) Read online

  Back to You

  Sweetbriar Cove: Book 12

  Melody Grace

  Copyright © 2020 by Melody Grace

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design copyright British Empire Designs.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Melody Grace

  Introduction

  Back to You

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Also by Melody Grace

  About the Author

  Also By Melody Grace:

  The Sweetbriar Cove Series:

  1. Meant to Be

  2. All for You

  3. The Only One

  4. I’m Yours

  5. Holiday Kisses (A Christmas Story)

  6. No Ordinary Love

  7. Wildest Dreams

  8. This Kiss

  9. Always Be Mine

  10. Two Hearts (Kinsella Family #1)

  11. The Story of Us

  12. Back to You

  13. One More Night

  14. Time After Time

  The Beachwood Bay Series:

  1. Untouched

  2. Unbroken

  3. Untamed Hearts

  4. Unafraid

  5. Unwrapped

  6. Unconditional

  7. Unrequited

  8. Uninhibited

  9. Unstoppable

  10. Unexpectedly Yours

  11. Unwritten

  12. Unmasked

  13. Unforgettable

  The Oak Harbor Duet:

  1. Heartbreaker

  2. Reckless Hearts

  With Every Heartbeat

  The Promise

  Thank you so much for reading!

  I knew from the moment I introduced Cassie Kinsella that she was a headstrong, impulsive character. It was a blast writing a hero who could go toe-to-toe (and also lip to lip) with her. Wes and Cassie have a history, but can their love story write a happier ending the second time around?

  I hope you enjoy reading Back to You as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it - and, of course, catching up with all your friends in Sweetbriar Cove. So pack your sunscreen, take a mini-vacation, and enjoy a taste of summer, wherever you are.

  xo Melody

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  Welcome to Sweetbriar Cove: the small town where happily-ever-after is guaranteed.

  BACK TO YOU

  Can you take a second chance at first love? Find out in the irresistible new Sweetbriar Cove romance from New York Times bestselling author, Melody Grace!

  Cassie Kinsella can’t help acting on impulse… which is probably why she’s sleeping on her grandpa’s couch in Sweetbriar Cove without a job or steady relationship to her name. She’s determined to turn things around this time: no more wild adventures or reckless mistakes, however tempting they may be. Mistakes like Wes Banner; annoyingly handsome, wildly arrogant — and the first boy to ever break her heart…

  Wes Banner can’t understand why Cassie still gets under his skin. It’s been years since their summer romance went up in flames, and seeing her again should be a breeze. He’s a grown man now: wealthy, successful… and apparently, still undone by a single touch. No matter where he turns, Cassie is right there in front of him: as beautiful and infuriating as ever, making him wonder if his fancy new life is worth anything at all without her in it…

  She should know better; he should be stronger than this. But the fire between them is burning hotter than ever, and soon, Wes and Cassie are reliving every last kiss — and plenty more besides. But can they take a second chance on first love? Or will old wounds and stubborn pride stand in the way of their happily-ever-after?

  Find out in the new feel-good standalone romance from Melody Grace!

  The Sweetbriar Cove Series:

  1. Meant to Be

  2. All for You

  3. The Only One

  4. I’m Yours

  5. Holiday Kisses (A Christmas Story)

  6. No Ordinary Love

  7. Wildest Dreams

  8. This Kiss

  9. Always Be Mine

  10. Two Hearts (Kinsella Family #1)

  11. The Story of Us

  12. Back to You

  13. One More Night

  14. Time After Time

  1

  Cassie Kinsella acted on impulse.

  She couldn’t help it, she’d always been this way. Growing up with four brothers, she’d learned to leap at every opportunity. If the bathroom was finally free . . . if there was a slice of leftover peach pie hidden in the back of the refrigerator . . . if Aidan took his eyes off the keys to their communal Jetta for even a second . . .

  There wasn’t time for careful planning or a measured pro/con list. Cassie just dove right in. She who dared, won.

  Right?

  At least that was the idea. But Cassie hadn’t been winning so often lately, and as much as she hated to admit it, the same adventurous stunts that seemed spontaneous when she was eighteen looked downright reckless now that she was almost twenty-eight. One of these days, she was going to have to stop saying and doing the first thing that sprang to mind.

  But tonight was definitely not that night.

  “What the hell?!”

  Cassie’s date yowled in shock as ice-cold beer hit him right in the face.

  “Are you crazy?” he bellowed, spluttering mad. He was drenched from the head down, with damp patches on his shirt and his blonde hair slicked wet to his face. “This shirt is Armani! Dry-clean only, four hundred bucks!”

  Cassie grinned, enjoying the show. She was glad she’d ordered that full pint of beer, after all.

  “I didn’t like the way you were talking to our waitress,” she told him.

  “So you decided to go psycho?!” Brent tried in vain to wipe himself down.

  “And I really didn’t like the way you grabbed her ass,” Cassie added, her voice hardening. Brent looked up. “Oh, you think I didn’t see that?” she asked.

  He flushed. “My hand slipped.”

  “Well, so did mine.” Cassie set her empty glass down on the table. “And luckily, my job doesn’t depend on smiling at assholes like you.”

  She pulled out her wallet and withdrew a healthy tip for said waitress. She couldn’t exactly afford it right now, but it was the least she could do, what with the grabbing and the beer cleanup. Plus, there was no way Brent was leaving anything.

  Guys like him had no shame.

  “So, this has been fun,” she said brightly, setting down the money and getting up from the booth. She’d been hoping for romance and passionate kisses, but what the hell: she’d take her entertainment any way it came.
“Don’t call us, we won’t call you.”

  Cassie began to waltz away when Brent’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

  “You think you’re just going to leave me here like this?” Brent’s face was red now, and his voice was getting louder.

  “Well, I’m not exactly itching to spend another half hour hearing about your stock portfolio,” Cassie pointed out. “Or your boat, or your new car . . . Just a hint, but do you think all these expensive toys are trying to compensate for something?” she asked with a grin.

  Brent’s jaw dropped. “What did you just say to me?”

  His grip on her arm tightened, and for the first time, Cassie felt a flicker of unease. Still, she refused to let it show. “You heard me,” she replied sunnily. “But here’s some free advice: flashing your cash around won’t make up for any . . . shortcomings.”

  Brent’s face went from red to purple. “You little bi—”

  “What do we have here?”

  His curse was drowned out by a new arrival sauntering over to their corner of the bar. Brent quickly released her, and Cassie let out a sigh of relief.

  Then she turned to see who her knight in shining armor was.

  “Oh. It’s you.”

  “What a charming welcome.” Wes Banner smiled back at her, annoyingly handsome even in the dim lighting of the corner of the bar. Or maybe because of it. Either way, Cassie would have happily poured a drink over her own head rather than deal with the first boy who had ever broken her heart.

  Not that he even knew it.

  Wes looked from Cassie to Brent and arched an eyebrow. “Everything OK here?” he asked, his voice still casual.

  “Fine,” Cassie said quickly.

  Brent scowled. “You mean, aside from this crazy bitch ruining my favorite shirt?”

  “Easy there.” Wes’s tone turned icy.

  “I did you a favor,” Cassie couldn’t help piping up. “That dark red really isn’t your color.”

  Wes gave her a look.

  “What?” she protested. “It’s not. His complexion is all wrong for it. You need cool tones,” she added to Brent, who didn’t exactly seem thrilled at the advice.

  “And you need someone to teach you a lesson—” he began, taking a step towards her.

  In an instant, Wes was blocking his path.

  “If all she did was empty a beer over your head, then you should count yourself lucky,” Wes said, his tone still pleasant—but with a steely edge. “The lady’s got a mean right hook when she wants. So, how about you say good night and get the hell out of here before she does you some real damage?”

  He loomed over Brent, and it was clear Cassie wasn’t the only threat.

  Brent backed off. “Whatever,” he said, scowling “She talks too much, anyway.”

  He stormed off, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him, and Cassie standing there alone with Wes.

  She just wasn’t sure it was an improvement.

  “He seemed nice.” Wes’s voice was amused, and Cassie knew there was a smug expression on his face, so she didn’t even look. “A real keeper.”

  She grabbed her coat.

  “Aren’t you going to thank me?”

  “What for?” Cassie replied lightly. “Saving me from the big bad wolf? I could have handled him.”

  “Sure. All the way to a jail cell on assault charges,” Wes said, still smirking. “I know you can look after yourself. I think I’ve still got a scar somewhere from your self-defense skills . . .”

  “Well, that’ll teach you not to sneak up on a girl with a squirt gun,” Cassie shot back. She headed for the exit, but Wes trailed her across the room.

  “You’re not even going to buy me a drink?” he asked.

  “You can afford your own.”

  “True. But your company is priceless,” Wes added.

  “Then I guess you’re out of luck tonight.”

  “Cassie, wait.”

  She turned . . . and immediately regretted it. Wes was wearing casual jeans and a navy button-down—which most definitely was his color. It brought out the chestnut in his thick hair and the blue in his eyes, and it reminded Cassie of when she was fifteen years old and would swoon every time he smiled at her.

  Not that she was swooning now. At least, that’s what Cassie told herself. No, the heat rushing through her bloodstream was just muscle memory. Habit, nothing more.

  “Are you staying with Earl? I’m heading back in that direction,” Wes said, emptying his glass. “I’ll give you a ride.”

  “No thanks,” Cassie said quickly. “I’ll walk.”

  He frowned. “It’s late.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I can look after myself now, isn’t it?” she replied.

  Cassie didn’t wait for an answer, and she pushed the bar door open wide—and got hit by a gust of wind whirling in from outside.

  Crap.

  It had been a warm evening when she’d dressed for her date, but now the sun had gone down, and there was a chill in the air. Still, she was too proud to change her mind now. She wasn’t going to give Wes the satisfaction. So, she pulled her light jacket tightly around her and set off down the street, her hands jammed into her pockets to keep warm and her sandals clip-clopping on the sidewalk.

  Maybe she’d been a little too optimistic with her wardrobe, but Cape Cod was on the brink of summer, and Cassie couldn’t wait. Barbecues and fireworks, saltwater taffy and days spent lazing down at the shore with her family . . . Some of her happiest memories were of the vacations they spent here as kids, running riot with sand in their sneakers and ice cream sticky on their hands.

  And then Cassie had grown up and found a whole different appeal to summers in Sweetbriar Cove.

  Wes Banner.

  She let out a wistful sigh.

  He’d always just been the annoying, scrawny kid who played with her brothers, until the year she turned fifteen and she got a job slinging ice cream scoops at the store where he was working before college. It turned out Wes wasn’t so scrawny anymore. Or so annoying. They joked around all day in between customers, and soon, the laughter turned to long conversations as they closed up the store, talking about everything under the sun. Closing up turned to late-night walks seeing her home, meandering in the moonlight, discussing their hopes and dreams, and then . . .

  Then, they’d done more than walking.

  Cassie had been floating on cloud nine all summer, sneaking dates and stealing heart-stopping kisses away from the watchful eyes of her brothers. Wes had been a secret all of her own, the one thing she didn’t have to share. Intoxicating. Irresistible.

  Until she came back down to earth with a bump.

  Cassie winced to think of it, even now. She hadn’t even seen the end coming, that’s how swept up in giddy first love she’d been. But arriving at work early for her shift one afternoon, she’d overheard some of the guys out back joking about an upcoming town event.

  “What about Cassie?” one of them had said, sounding amused. “Are you going to save her a dance?”

  “Come on . . .”

  “She’s got a crush on you, everyone can tell.”

  “It’s nothing,” the other voice came again, and Cassie had realized to her horror it was Wes. “She’s just a kid,” he continued, as she stood frozen there, unseen, on the other side of the wall. “We hang out sometimes because I’m friends with her brothers, that’s all. Besides, I’m heading to college next month, I’m not getting tied down.”

  Cassie didn’t need to hear anything else; she crept away as quietly as she could and cried all night alone in her room. Wes kept calling—they were supposed to go to the Fourth of July party together—but she ignored his messages. She’d given him her heart, but she was determined to hold onto what was left of her pride. She defiantly showed up to the party with another guy instead, and after that, Wes got the hint and disappeared from view.

  It was over, not that it had ever been anything real to begin with.

  An engine n
oise behind her suddenly brought Cassie back to the present. A fancy BMW was slowing to a crawl beside her on the dark street. She tensed, until the window rolled down to reveal Wes behind the wheel.

  “Come on, let me drive you home.”

  “I’m fine!” Cassie lied. It had been thirteen years since that summer heartbreak, but she would rather lose feeling in her toes than be reminded of her humiliation again.

  Wes sighed. “Look, I know you can be boneheaded sometimes, but are you really going to catch pneumonia just to prove a point? You hate being sick,” he added. “You’ll be cooped up in bed for weeks with nothing to do . . .”

  Cassie paused. Dammit, he knew her too well.

  “Besides, your brothers would kill me if they knew I let you walk home alone,” Wes added, sounding impatient. “So just get in the car and save me the damn lecture about chivalry down the line.”

  “Gee, now who’s being welcoming . . . ?” Cassie couldn’t help teasing.

  Wes grinned. “That’s me, a regular Prince Charming.”

  Another cold wind whipped around her bare ankles. Cassie shivered. She may have been stubborn, but she wasn’t stupid.

  “Fine,” she agreed, crossing around to the passenger side. “You can drive me home.”

  “Lucky me.”

  Cassie ignored the comment and slid into the car. She practically moaned aloud at the warmth. Heated seats! And surround sound, and was that . . . yup, a cupholder that somehow also kept your beverage cool. “This is definitely an upgrade to that old Honda you used to drive,” she said, remembering how they needed to jump-start it every other week.