A Taste Of Honey
Oberon Book 4.0
For Lucy Greco Cavanaugh, life is a dream come true. She has it all. The perfect family. The perfect husband. The perfect marriage. What more could she wish for? Other than the chance to do it all again. To experience once more the agony and ecstasy of falling in love with the man of her dreams. To recapture the joy and uncertainty that comes with starting over.
As far as Dan Cavanaugh is concerned, his life has become a nightmare. His storybook marriage is on the line when Deirdre Shelton-Cooper, the runaway daughter of a former girlfriend arrives in Oberon intent on proving Dan is her father. Even though he's convinced the girl's claims are false, Dan decides his only chance to keep from losing everything lies in keeping her very existence a secret from his wife and family.
But, sometimes, what you don't know can hurt you--and those you love. When Deirdre, masquerading as a surfer girl named Monica, accidentally hooks up with their son, Seth, Lucy and Dan are left to wonder: has their perfect, fairy-tale romance, turned into a classic Greek tragedy?
Sometimes you get exactly what you wish for. And it's more than you'd ever dreamed.
“Hey, Monica, everything okay with you? Monica?”
Deirdre ignored the voice, the conversations swirling around her, all the noise and the laughter that belonged to the people who actually lived here—not to her, the outsider. She sat back in the corner of the booth and let her eyes wander around the long narrow room.
Genovese’s, the pizza place where she had gone with Seth and his friends, seemed to be more bar than restaurant; with dim lights, brick walls, and the sharp, slightly yeasty smell of beer permeating the air. Eight tables and a dartboard took up the back half of the restaurant, while here in the front half, five booths occupied the wall that faced the long wooden bar. She checked out the handful of men who sat at the bar, searching their reflections in the mirror. Hoping to see the one face that would be familiar—a face that, so far, she had seen only in photographs, or in her dreams—the face of her father.
“Hey.”
She jumped as someone touched her arm, and turned to find Seth watching her, a curious, slightly troubled expression on his face.
“Monica? Are you okay?” he repeated.
Monica. Oh, shit. She’d forgotten that’s who she was supposed to be now.
Deirdre nodded. “Yeah, sure.” She wished she’d given more thought to picking out a phony name for herself, but when he’d come out with that Joey line, she just couldn’t resist.
He gestured at her plate. “You’re not eating. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Oh. Yeah. I just…forgot.” She reached for a slice from the pizza in front of her. Was he kidding? Hungry? She was famished. She took a big bite, and then froze as he reached out to pull at the strands of cheese hanging from her pizza. She was conscious of a strange, almost queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched his long fingers gather up all that gooey cheese and skillfully pile it back on top of her slice. When his hand went still, poised in midair, her eyes went to his face. He was watching her with a startled, almost puzzled frown, and when their eyes met, his mouth turned up briefly in a quick, heart melting grin; just before he turned away to pick up his own slice. She swallowed, aware of a sudden tightness in her throat. The barely chewed pizza in her mouth went down with difficulty.
I’m gonna have to let him kiss me, she decided, taking a hasty sip from her soda and trying to ignore the nervous, dizzy, fluttering feeling she was getting inside. It wasn’t that she wanted him to kiss her, or anything. But she did want him to help her, and kissing him was probably the least she’d have to do, in return. She slid a glance in his direction, and tried not to choke. On second thought, maybe they didn’t have to do it tonight. Especially if he was going to eat any more of that pizza. Seth’s half of the pizza was loaded with all sorts of weird toppings; mushrooms and roasted garlic, slivered almonds, jalapenos, anchovies, artichokes and…pineapple? Yuck. Deirdre wasn’t sure she even wanted to be sitting at the same table with that thing, let alone get within kissing distance of anyone who’d actually put it into his mouth.
Her eyes strayed around the room again. At the other side of the booth, David and Ray shared another pizza—plain old pepperoni, drizzled with ranch dressing—and flirted with some girls in the adjacent booth. She’d been pretending not to notice the curious looks those girls had been shooting in her direction all night; as well as the way they kept trying to engage Seth’s attention. Especially one pale, nervous looking redhead, who was really beginning to bug her. Cara, she thought they’d called her.
What’s the deal there, Deirdre wondered. Seth sure didn’t seem interested, but the redhead didn’t look like she could take a hint. If this had been a real date, Deirdre would’ve sent the breezy a clear message to back the fuck off. But this wasn’t a real date, or anything like one, she reminded herself. All the same, she couldn’t help but enjoy the way Seth continued to pointedly ignore the other girl’s advances. Not that he was saying all that much to her, either. But that was probably because she’d been so preoccupied herself.
Again and again she’d found herself wondering what it would be like when she finally met her father. When would they meet? How long would it take her to convince him to let her come live with him?
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Such Fleeting Pleasures
An Oberon Prequel Novella
Love wasn't always strawberries and cream for Lucy and Dan Cavanaugh...or was it?
In this Oberon prequel, we travel back in time to see how it all began.
Most of the material in this prequel novella (set some eighteen years before the series begins) also appears as flashback scenes in A Taste of Honey.
Get it here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/5xxljdbblb
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