State of Grace: A Moonflower Cove Romance Read online

  “It’s ok; it’s not like you’re the first person to ever snap at me for it.” Blake’s laugh fell flat as she put her hands in the pocket of the lightweight jacket she was wearing. She had the hood up over her head, but her long hair was flowing in soft curls out from under it. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s frustrating for me too. But, at the end of the day, it’s a job, and I gotta do what the boss says.”

  “I get that.” Alexis nodded several times. “I do.”

  “And I meant what I said.”

  “About what?”

  “About your fanfic. It is fantastic. You should listen to Sophia and Vera and publish it.”

  “Please.” She waved off the comment like an annoying bug. “It’s not that great.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short.” The conviction in Blake’s voice caught Alexis off guard. She was used to compliments from Sophia and Vera but hearing it from Blake had an entirely different effect on her. “I’ve read a lot of shitty fanfics, and yours wasn’t one of them. If this is something you want to do, go for it.”

  “Look, I’m flattered, but…” Alexis hoped Blake would understand what she was about to say without wanting to ask any questions. She’d made it a point to keep her life as private as she could, and the last thing Alexis wanted or needed was for the world to know who she was. “I’m not comfortable putting my name or face out there for people to know who I am.”

  “Such a shame.” Blake licked her lower lip slowly as a smirk formed on her lips. She took a step closer to Alexis and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear unhurriedly. Her blue eyes sparkled in the glow of the street lights like the ocean on a moonlit night. When she spoke again, her voice was lower, sexier. “You have such a pretty face.”

  “Not as pretty as yours.”

  Oh my god, Alexis! Stop talking.

  For the second time that night, Alexis wished for a hole to open up in the ground and swallow her whole. She’d never been able to take a compliment, but she had no idea how to take one coming from Blake freakin’ Calloway. Had Blake seriously said she was pretty? Had Alexis heard her correctly? And had Alexis seriously said ‘not as pretty as yours’ in response?

  You did. You so did that.

  “Well,” Alexis ran her hand through her hair nervously, “I’m going to go inside now and tunnel a hole to the center of the earth so that I can die from embarrassment.”

  “Please…” Blake reached out and grabbed her arm, “don’t be embarrassed.”

  “Too late for that.”

  “Would it help if I said I found it endearing?”

  “No, it most certainly would not.” Her nervous giggle escaped from her mouth before Alexis could stop it. The twinkle in Blake’s eyes told her she was enjoying making her nervous. If Alexis was honest with herself, she was enjoying it on some level as well.

  “Well, then I won’t.” With a wink, Blake turned to leave but stopped and turned around a few steps away. “Good night, Alexis.”

  “Good night, Blake.”

  Alexis watched her disappear around the corner before she leaned up against the cool metal door to the apartment. Her heart was racing, and she could still feel the warmth on her cheeks. She heard a catcall from Sophia and Emily’s balcony as she whipped her head around toward the sound to find them and Harper on the balcony watching her.

  “Fuck,” Alexis mumbled under her breath as she let herself into the apartment and prepared herself for the barrage of questions she knew were coming. Taking the stairs two at a time, Alexis meandered through Sophia and Emily’s apartment as casually as she could and headed toward the balcony. “Good evening, ladies,” she nodded at Emily and Harper as they came in from the balcony.

  “We’ll let you two discuss your nightcap,” Emily teased as she and Harper headed for the couch, undoubtedly to watch a Disney movie together. Closing the balcony door behind herself, Alexis leaned up against the railing opposite Sophia. Alexis avoided Sophia’s gaze from across the balcony.

  “How was your night?” Sophia’s eyes sparkled. She didn’t give her a chance to respond before offering her opinion on the evening. “From the way it looked up here, it could have gone a different way if you had made a move.”

  “Me? Make a move?” Alexis scoffed. “Have you met me?”

  “Well, you could have gotten a kiss if you’d turned your head ever so slightly.”

  “Soph, be serious.”

  “I am.” She held up her hands in defense.

  “There is no way that Blake Calloway would ever want to kiss me.”

  “You don’t see it, do you?” All joking had left Sophia’s voice as she held Alexis’s gaze. Alexis shrugged, unsure of what Sophia was referencing. “You’re a catch, Alexis.” The roll of her eyes was unintentional, and it added fuel for Sophia to carry on. “Look at what all you have accomplished. You have raised a beautiful daughter, you’re worked your way up from waitress to marketing manager at the bar, you’ve written an amazing fanfic, and you’ve faced your fears and taken the lead in the town’s annual musical.”

  “Yeah, well, I had to do all that.”

  “Really?” Sophia’s eyebrow arched. “You had to have Harper? You had to spend years working your ass off? You had to face your fears, put your work out there, and step out of your comfort zone? The short answer is no. You didn’t have to do any of those things. You could have chosen another option every step of the way, and you didn’t.”

  “I guess.” Sulking, Alexis sat on one of the Adirondack chairs. She knew Sophia was right, although she didn’t want to tell her that. There had been several times over the last six years Alexis could have given in and didn’t; times when she could have chosen the easy path and instead chose a harder one.

  But that didn’t mean that Blake wanted to kiss her.

  Did it?

  “Promise me one thing.” Sophia tapped her bare foot on Alexis’s knee. “Promise me that you won’t think so little of yourself that you won’t stop to imagine for one moment that Blake might actually be interested in you.”

  Alexis let Sophia’s words resonate in her heart for a few moments before she nodded. If Blake were any other woman, Alexis might have been able to let herself fully believe that she could be interested in her. But if Blake were any other woman, Alexis wouldn’t have been as drawn to her as she had been to Blake while standing outside the apartment.

  And Alexis knew that fact was going to keep her mind overthinking well into the night.

  Chapter 9

  Not as pretty as yours.

  Those words kept circulating in Blake’s head even three days after hearing them from Alexis. They lived rent-free in her mind, along with the adorably embarrassed look on Alexis’s face when she’d said them. Alexis had looked beyond cute as her eyes went wide, and she giggled nervously at Blake’s compliment. And when Alexis’s mouth had clearly spoken before her brain had been able to process what she was saying, Blake found her irresistible.

  Blake was used to people fawning over her. It came with the territory. What she wasn’t used to was Alexis. Alexis and her adorable smirk. Alexis and her passion for the things she loved. Alexis who seemed more closed off than Fort Knox. Alexis who had managed to make Blake feel something she hadn’t felt in years.

  Intrigue.

  Maybe it was the fact that Blake knew that Alexis was a fan of the show and hadn’t fawned over her like other people she’d met. In fact, Alexis had barely shown any interest in Blake at all. She’d been annoyed by Blake at dinner over the show’s - what had she called it? - hetero normative storylines.

  The Alexis at dinner had been a different one than had stood in the glow of the street light with her. That Alexis had successfully dodged every compliment Blake tried to give her. Blake could see her insecurities and wanted to try and convince her she was wrong about herself, but hell, Blake barely knew her. She had no right to assume she knew Alexis on a deeper level.

  Truthfully, Blake barely knew her on a friendly level. A
nd the way Alexis acted at dinner, she wasn’t even sure Alexis wanted to be friends with her. She’d acted so nonchalant with Blake’s presence that, at the time, Blake had found it endearing that Alexis wasn’t fawning all over her. Looking back, however, Blake began to wonder if Alexis really lacked interest in her. After all, they say never meet your heroes because they’ll let you down.

  Was Blake not who Alexis had assumed her to be? Was she so different that Alexis had no interest in getting to know her? Or was the nonchalant attitude Alexis’s way of playing it cool in front of Blake? It was entirely possible Alexis was nervous and insecure about meeting Blake and trying to play it off the best she could.

  Through all the uncertainties, Blake knew one thing wholeheartedly. She had wanted more than anything to kiss Alexis the other night. That fact scared her more than she had expected. She wasn’t one to kiss someone out of the blue; she considered herself more old-fashioned than that. Call her archaic, but Blake thought two people should have a mutual desire to kiss before someone initiated a kiss. Although there had been a vibe Alexis had given off, she didn’t know if it was a ‘please kiss me’ or ‘please leave me alone so I can go inside’ vibe.

  Alexis was a puzzling enigma.

  And Blake loved puzzles.

  Lacing up her sneakers, Blake snuck out through the back door to avoid any conversation she could hear happening down the hall in the living room. Isla, Vera, and their kids were fantastic, but Blake wasn’t up for more chitchat; the conversation at dinner had already taken more than she had wanted to give. Blake wasn’t used to always being surrounded by people who weren’t her costars, and being around family was more exhausting than Blake had realized. She needed a run to clear her head; she needed to push her lungs to their limit to get her mind off Alexis. A nice evening run would be just the ticket.

  Blake adjusted the smartwatch on her wrist as she set out on the two-lane road toward downtown. She’d been running in the evening on the trails Isla had made around the farm, but she’d gotten lost the day before and was sure she’d end up on TMZ along with the headline “Blake Calloway: Murdered in Her Estranged Mother’s Backyard.” That was what she needed.

  Her watch buzzed with a text notification as Blake quickly glanced down at it.

  It was from Salem.

  Again.

  She’d texted several times a day since Blake had left. Her texts were mostly asking how Blake was and keeping her informed on the happenings with the show. Blake had been careful to leave out any mention of Alexis when Salem had asked if she had made any friends. She wasn’t ready to share that information with Salem. Not yet, anyway. Thankfully, there had been no real updates for the show to resume filming so at least for the time being, Blake didn’t have to leave the Cove.

  Or Alexis.

  Her relationship with her career had always been a challenging one. Her father was her manager first, her accountant second, and her father last, all the way up until the day he died. Ben was more concerned with how much money Blake was making on a show than if she enjoyed the role. She worked sixteen plus hours a day, six days a week for ten months out of the year, and it had gotten to her. When she’d been in her preteen and teenage years, she’d struggled with snapping at people unnecessarily and withdrawing into her own mind to the point she didn’t know if there was a way out.

  But Ben never let her quit. He pushed her and pushed her until she was eighteen and in an ICU from dehydration and exhaustion. The press had had a field day with that one, but of course, her father had spun it all to make it look like Blake had merely been working too hard because she was passionate about her career.

  Years of therapy would eventually help her control them to the point where she could manage her emotions significantly better than before.

  Blake loved her career, yes, but she had wanted out multiple times over the years. It just wasn’t her dream the way it was for other people; it was never her passion.

  Her smartwatch buzzed once more, this time to indicate she’d completed another mile. She was five miles in before she slowed her pace as she approached the crosswalk at Main Street. After she’d eaten the best lasagna she’d ever had for dinner courtesy of Vera, Blake found herself in need of a drink to wash it all down. Blake knew better than to drink then run home alone on the dark street, but one drink wouldn’t hurt her. One drink and out the door; home before the sun finished setting.

  Opening the heavy oak door at Straight to Ale, Blake was relieved that apparently, Tuesday evenings in Moonflower Cove were relatively low-key. There were only a handful of tables occupied, and the stage set up in one corner of the restaurant was vacant. The waiter at the host stand barely acknowledged her as she told him she wanted a seat at the bar and walked over to it. She was relieved to find the only person behind the bar was Alexis, who was intently cleaning a shaker with her back toward her.

  Choosing the seat in the corner that allowed her to have her back to the wall, Blake sat and picked up one of the plastic menus. She wasn’t hungry and knew her drink order, so it was more out of nervousness than anything that she decided to peruse it at all. Her eyes kept looking at Alexis over the menu. Blake licked her lips unconsciously as her eyes raked up Alexis’s body. The logoed t-shirt she was wearing and her jeans both hugged every curve of her body perfectly. She wasn’t model skinny but wasn’t plumb either. She was a healthy medium that Blake hadn’t realized she was so entirely attracted to until that moment.

  “What’s a person gotta do to get service around here?” Blake didn’t bother to hide the smile on her face as the elaborate braid in Alexis’s hair flipped over her shoulder as she whirled around to face her. Alexis’s face went from horrified to relieved quickly, and it made Blake laugh.

  “I thought you were an actual customer, and I was about to crawl into a hole.”

  “You wanna crawl into a lot of holes.” The words were out before Blake could stop them, and she winced. Thankfully, Alexis busted out laughing. “See? You’re not the only one who embarrasses yourself, you know?”

  “Good to know you’re human.”

  “That’s the rumor.” Setting the menu aside, Blake leaned onto the bar top. Alexis walked over to her, placing her hand on the lower counter behind the bar and leaning toward Blake. She swallowed and licked her lips at the way Alexis’s close presence affected her in ways she hadn’t anticipated. For a moment, she wondered if Alexis would keep leaning across the counter to kiss her.

  “Your mom’s not here.”

  “Oh, I know. Isla’s at home with the rest of the Brady bunch.”

  “And you…what?” She placed a hand on her hip as she jutted her chin toward her. “Ran here to get away? You do know that there are these new inventions called vehicles that allow you to get from one location to another without having to run, right?”

  “Yes, but then I wouldn’t have met my step count.”

  “Fair point.” Nodding a few times, Alexis picked up a glass and gestured to Blake. “You want anything? It’s been pretty slow around here all day, so I’d appreciate actually doing my job to earn my paycheck.”

  “I’ll take a Jack and Coke, please.”

  “Coming up.” As Alexis started to prepare the drink, Blake watched her. She was stunning with minimal makeup, and for a fleeting moment, Blake considered telling her that. Blake wasn’t too proud to admit that she’d love to see the adorably nervous Alexis again. But instead, she kept quiet as Alexis sat the drink down in front of her. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks, Alexis.” Blake picked up the drink and let the liquid flow down her throat. It was easily one of the best-mixed drinks she’d ever had, and she hummed her approval of it. “Damn, this is a perfect drink.”

  “That’s why Isla pays me with the big bucks.” Alexis turned around with a wink and took a reusable water bottle out of the small fridge before leaning her hip on the counter to face Blake. “So, how are things going with you and Isla? Things seemed to be going well the other night at dinner.”
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  “Yeah, things are good. She’s good. She’s great, actually.” Blake took another drink. “And Vera’s fantastic, and I like their kids. I’m hoping to be able to get to know Mason better. I had ice cream with her and Mom the other day, but that’s all I’ve seen of her since I’ve been here.”

  “Mason’s hilarious.” Alexis laughed to herself. “She hangs out with our group of friends sometimes. Her dry wit kills me in the absolute best ways.”

  “She seems like she could be hilarious.”

  “She is. And she’s so smart. Did you know she’s working on her doctorate?”

  “I did. Mom’s proud about that.” Blake sadly smiled as she wondered if her mother was proud of her. Her accomplishments were dismal compared to Mason’s, after all. “So, do you have any siblings?”

  “Three. All older, all annoying. I’m not close to any of them.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine.”

  Resting her head in her hand, Blake smiled sadly at Alexis, who returned the smile. “Things would have been so different if I’d grown up with Isla, you know? I’d have not one but two moms and some pretty great siblings, although, like yourself, they have some opinions on the show.” Blake winked to let her know she was teasing.

  “True,” she tilted her head from one side to the other, “but it’s a slippery slope when you spend too much time thinking about how things could have been. It’s better to appreciate the life you’ve had and all the battles you’ve had to fight and overcome to have it.”

  “God, you have a way with words,” Blake said dreamily. “No wonder you’re a writer.”

  “I’m just saying.” Alexis shrugged, and Blake noticed how she didn’t look nervous at all.

  Blake nodded as she mulled over what Alexis had said. She had a point; there was no way to know how her or Isla’s lives would have been if her dad had never taken her. There were only scenarios Blake could play out in her imagination.