When Love Strikes (Love On The North Shore Book 6) Read online

  Before Lynn’s first visit, he’d assumed Sean was exaggerating a little when he talked about his mother-in-law. He’d started to reconsider his view when she and Dominic came immediately after the kidnapping attempt. But even then he’d told himself the stressful situation was somehow affecting Lynn’s personality and bringing out the worst in her. After her second visit in October, he understood why his friend couldn’t stand to be in the same room with the woman. She simply was an unpleasant individual who not only believed she was better than everyone else but felt she knew what was best for her daughters. And when they didn’t do as she wished, she did everything she could to change their minds.

  How Angie’s father stayed with the woman was a mystery. He hadn’t spent as much time around Dominic. Unlike his wife, when they’d returned to North Salem in October, he’d stayed only a week before returning to California. Dakota had more than one conversation with the man, and he’d seen him interact with Angie, Mia, and Sean. At least during that week, he’d come across as a down-to-earth man who cared more about his daughters’ happiness than their career decisions.

  “She’s good. She’ll be here for Thanksgiving next week.” She finished pouring a glass of wine and joined him. “Actually, she wants to either buy a house or rent one in town.”

  Dakota choked on the beer he’d swallowed. “She wants to move here?”

  With a chuckle, she nodded. “I had a similar reaction. She doesn’t want to make this her permanent home, but she wants her own place.”

  “Unless she’s spending months at a time in town, wouldn’t it be easier to either stay with either you or Mia? Maybe check into the Victorian Rose?”

  Angie sipped her drink before answering. “Avery said she plans on being around a lot more, which I interpret to mean she intends to make her visits a couple of months long rather than a week or two. According to her, it’s because Mia, Natalie, and I are here, and I’m sure it’s a big factor, but I think there’s another reason she plans to visit more.”

  If it was to get away from her mother, he understood Avery’s desire to spend several months living in North Salem. Hell, if he were in her shoes, he’d consider living in Antarctica several months of the year rather than be close to Lynn Troy.

  “Between you and me, I think she wants to see where things with Steve will go.”

  “Steve? What am I missing” As far as he knew, Avery and Steve, at least the only Steve he knew, had gone out once and only once back in August.

  “Since August, every time she’s around, they’ve gotten together. When she’s not here, they stay in contact.”

  He now knew how Alice felt when she fell down the rabbit hole. “Steve Nelson, Sean’s friend? The one who owns the karate school?”

  “Uh, I thought I told you. Anyway, yes, Sean’s friend.”

  Well, if Avery was serious, maybe she could either rent his house or Angie’s. At this point they were living together and splitting up the time they spent at each house. In no way did it make financial sense for them to keep doing that.

  “I told her I might know of the perfect place.” Angie glanced down at her watch before lacing her fingers with his. “Almost every night I either stay at your house or you’re here. It’s silly for us each to have a house. I’d love it if you’d move in here with me.”

  For weeks he’d been wondering about the right time to bring up the topic. She’d beat him to it. Maybe he should’ve expected that. After all, she’d been the one to ask him out on their first date. From now on, he’d better stay on his toes, or she’d ask him to marry her before he managed to do it. Exactly when it would happen, he didn’t know for certain, but he had started searching for a ring.

  “If you like your house better, I can move in with you.”

  He liked his house, but he loved Angie’s. It had character.

  “But if you want to wait a little longer, we can keep doing things the way we have been,” she added before he could get a single word out.

  Before she continued, he touched his index finger to her lips. “Tell Avery she can rent my house for as long as she wants. I don’t need it.”

  I hope you enjoyed Dakota and Angie’s story. If you want to spend more time in North Salem, check out The Billionaire Playboy and The Billionaire’s Homecoming. Both books take place in North Salem.

  About Christina

  USA Today Best Selling author, Christina Tetreault started writing at the age of 10 on her grandmother's manual typewriter and never stopped. Born and raised in Lincoln, Rhode Island, she has lived in four of the six New England states since getting married in 2001. Today, she lives in New Hampshire with her husband, three daughters and two dogs. When she's not driving her daughters around to their various activities or chasing around the dogs, she is working on a story or reading a romance novel. Currently, she has three series out, The Sherbrookes of Newport, Love on The North Shore and Elite Force Security. You can visit her website www.christinatetreault.com or follow her on Facebook to learn more about her characters and to track her progress on current writing projects.