Again With You

  Again with You

  Matchbox Series Book 4

  E. H. Lyon

  Copyright © 2021 by E.H. Lyon

  Again with You, Matchbox Series #4, First Edition

  Written and published by: E.H. Lyon

  All rights reserved.

  Editing & Formatting: Contagious Edits

  Proofing: Katy Nielsen at Once Upon a Proofread

  Cover Design: Shanoff Designs

  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.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and used fictitiously and are not to be perceived as real. Any resemblance to persons, venues, events, businesses are entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.

  E-book ISBN 978-1-7362792-3-6

  Paperback ISBN 978-1-7362792-8-1

  Created with Vellum

  Matchbox Series

  Different with You

  * * *

  Crazy with You

  * * *

  Always with You

  * * *

  Again with You

  * * *

  Tempted with You

  Contents

  About

  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

  Epilogue

  Next Up

  Acknowledgments

  About

  This sexy attorney may just have his second chance at a future with her…

  Jake Sutton doesn’t have time for romance. He tends to skip dinner and head straight to dessert. It’s not like he’s a complete jerk, he knows how to be romantic—it happened once. His friends have been trying to set him up on a blind date for months with the new bakery owner in town, to no avail. But when they end up at the same party and their eyes meet, it all comes back. Turns out Avery is no stranger.

  Jake and Avery had a summer together a few years back in a different city. They were so many things… then one day they were not. Yet seeing each other again, well, it’s a struggle—the not jumping into bed or lying her down on the kitchen counter kind of struggle.

  But closure and a second chance are not the same thing, and they’ll need both if they want to try again. And this bakery owner and hotshot attorney are about to realize that finding their way back to one another could just be bittersweet.

  Again with You is the fourth sweet and sexy standalone novel from the “Matchbox” series, where you can revisit your favorite characters throughout.

  Chapter One

  Jake

  “Changes to clause 10.2 are not on the table. My client and I are losing patience and we have no problem walking. I am giving you until 9am on Monday to come back with a counteroffer worth negotiating,” I bark into my phone before hanging up.

  This week has been hectic to say the least. Finalized one deal only to walk into a shitstorm of another deal. Now, I am already late to casual drinks at Matchbox where my client/friend is planning to announce his surprise secret marriage—which gives this week a tint of crazy. Nobody knows they got hitched—except me, since I am the guy who arranged their marriage in a rush thanks to my connections.

  Five years ago, I was living in Chicago on the verge of being named partner at a big-name firm with more than 80 billable hours per week. Now I have my own practice in Sage Creek, having something that nearly resembles a life outside of the office, and still billing a crazy amount of money per hour. Getting to watch deer walk down the idyllic main street of this Colorado town with a backdrop of mountains is just a bonus.

  I focus on where I am, and Matchbox is happening tonight. An old warehouse now bar that has great live music, specialty drinks, and local brew. I’m about to grab the handle of the door, but my phone vibrates in my pocket again before I manage to succeed at opening the door.

  Stepping back into the parking lot, I answer my phone as I pinch the bridge of my nose. “What do you want, Becca?” I tell my sister, and I can see my breath in the air as it is a freezing winter night.

  She has a knack for catching me at the wrong moment.

  “Fine, I will watch Stella for an hour Sunday, but really an hour. I have quite a lot to do this weekend… no, it’s not work.” It is. “Yeah, I saw Gramps… the doctors think he’s doing okay… It’s Gramps, of course he’s stubborn… Okay… No, I am not interested in who you met at yoga. Listen, I gotta go, bye.”

  Great, I just got roped into watching my niece who can be a little terror, and my sister decided to remind me that Gramps, the greatest man alive, is in his final years. To top it off, she still tried to set me up with some random chick, because she feels I need to settle down.

  Yeah, great way to end the week.

  I head straight inside, and my eyes scan the joint. I head to the private area at the back where Leo and Lucas, my two friends, nod to me as I enter the room.

  “You were a bulldozer this week. Owe you a big one for putting that negotiation to bed,” Leo beams as his hand pats my shoulder. He is CEO of his family company that manages a lot of development deals, and he just so happens to have me on a high retainer fee to put out all his legal blazes.

  “You can thank me when you get my bill,” I remind him with a grin.

  Lucas smiles as he gets up from his seat to welcome me. “It’s been a few weeks, man. How have you been?”

  Lucas and I went to graduate school together. He studied medicine and is now the local family doctor in town. We were close due to our equal desire to graduate and get the hell out of the Ivy League realm while still standing on solid ground.

  “Yeah. Had a crazy few weeks in court, and Leo has been keeping me busy.”

  “Busy with work-work or secret weddings?” Lucas jokes as Leo just eloped.

  Someone passes by with a tray of drinks and offers me the selection.

  “Why do you think I grabbed a glass of champagne?” I give my best knowing grin.

  Lucas nudges my arm. “You can finally meet Abby’s cousin.”

  “Oh yeah, the new owner of Smokey Java’s, right?”

  Lucas has mentioned her once or twice, never got her name, though. Smokey Java’s is a bakery next to Matchbox and always seems to be busy. But another person trying to get me on a blind date is the last thing I want right now.

  By no means am I in a dry spell—okay, maybe recently, but I tend to skip the dating part and head straight into post-dinner activities.

  I can be romantic—it happened once.

  I just choose not to use that talent at this stage of my life. I am not a dick. In fact, most say I’m too sweet for my own good. I am just selective about when to use my gift of being a charming romantic guy who can make a woman scream with many O’s.

  While Leo is busy talking to his new wife, Jess, Lucas indicates his head to his girlfriend, Abby, who is sitting next to a woman… a b
eauty with blue eyes and light honey-brown hair to match her talented mouth. She is still wearing those dresses that don’t deserve to be on her and could easily be ripped off, with those legs that wrap around my waist so I can take her deep—

  What the fuck?

  I know her.

  My chest tightens and a sudden lack of oxygen hits me. Somebody could be yelling fire right now and I would have no clue, because everything just stopped.

  This has to be the man upstairs playing a trick on me.

  Lucas motions quietly. “That’s Av—”

  “Avery,” I gulp out, my gaze unable to blink as I stare at her.

  Lucas mumbles something, but I cannot distinguish what he is saying. I am too entranced by the sight in front of me. Avery has no clue that I am watching her as she tucks a few strands of loose hair behind her ear.

  Just like that, there she is.

  The one I could be romantic for, the one who I could be everything for.

  The woman who changed my life, and then we parted ways like that summer needed to be put in a bottle, wrapped in chains to a brick of cement and sent to the bottom of the lake. Over time, I thought of her less often. But, truthfully, she still occupies my mind like a prime piece of real estate that will not sell.

  My brain, body, and that muscle they call a heart are in a battle over what to do. In fact, that boot-camp training I was dragged to a few weeks ago did not prepare my heartrate for this.

  I finish the champagne in my hand in one go as my eyes do not leave the scene in front of me.

  Lucas gives me side-eye. “I know you’re happy for Leo and Jess, but maybe go easy?” Lucas suggests with an entertained look as he steps closer to me.

  I glance at him and my eyes must be blazing. “Yeah… a blast from the past,” I say faintly, indicating my head to Avery in the corner talking with Abby.

  “I gathered. What’s the story?”

  Looking into my empty glass, I say, “Remember I told you once about that relationship I had and how it was intense, life-changing—a mind-fuck, really?”

  “Yeah.” He gives me a nod.

  I sigh. “It’s her.”

  “What? Avery? Abby’s cousin, Avery?” He too must repeat this news. “As in my live-in girlfriend’s cousin who comes to family dinners and the new owner of Smokey Java’s, Avery?” Lucas takes a beat and wipes a hand across his mouth. “Geez, I’ve been trying to set you two up on a blind date for months, but Avery said she doesn’t date guys with the name Jake because she’d already done that once and it was enough.”

  Looking at him slightly, I am taken aback by that statement. Could it be that I am also still stuck in her head somewhere? How could I not be? We were…

  Damn. We were so many things.

  Lucas pats my back as he lets out a deep breath. “Oh man. This is complicated and crazy.” He takes a sip of his beer.

  “How have we not figured out this fact already?” I wonder aloud.

  Lucas purses his lips. “Hmm, well, Avery is Abby’s cousin from her mother’s side, so different last names. Family photos in my house are reserved for my son and the dog that may as well be our child, so uh, I guess if you weren’t really listening then you wouldn’t have caught on. And Nate only calls Avery the cute bakery owner when he talks about her on our group runs.”

  My glare turns towards Lucas about the fact that his brother has in fact mentioned her on our runs, the cute bakery owner—who he’d better fucking stay away from.

  Lucas scoffs. “You look like a man in warrior mode. Relax. Nate isn’t interested.” I feel not even slightly better.

  “What is with this bar? Is there ever a normal night here?” I remark with disbelief, because really, anybody who walks into this place eventually comes out with a crazy story. Guess tonight it was my turn.

  “But time changes people. Or maybe some people need a long pause before facing each other,” Lucas offers the unsolicited advice, because he and Abby came together only recently, after knowing one another their whole lives. He sometimes presents life as a freaking fairytale.

  There is nothing more than wanting to believe he is right. I have thought about it every day for the past five years.

  Five freaking years.

  And look at her. Still beautiful. Is she faintly smiling? Please no, it’s too infectious. That dress? So easy to slide up her…

  Letting out an exhale, something snaps in me.

  This woman left a mark on my life and no way am I letting her escape again without a fight. No, this is the woman that sent my world into a tailspin, and something tells me we are not done on that ride. I’ve been waiting for this chance, and I wasn’t even looking. I should have been searching.

  I look to Lucas and give him a devilish grin. “Can you introduce us?”

  He knows I have plans on my mind.

  “You two already know each other,” Lucas states, amused, as he crosses his arms.

  “Yeah, but I want to meet her again.”

  Chapter Two

  Avery: 10 minutes earlier

  “This tastes so good, Avery!” Abby, my cousin, beams as she comes and sits next to me on the low oversized leather love seat. She tucks into a piece of simple chocolate cake on her small plate.

  Our friends literally just casually announced they’re married as they passed around glasses of champagne.

  “What can I say? I take my party responsibilities seriously,” I joke, clucking the side of my cheek with my tongue. Because I baked the wedding cake Jess had asked me to make and swore me to secrecy as I own Smokey Java’s, the social-media worthy, travel-blog hyped, ridiculously named bakery/café next to Matchbox. Rumor has it we may even be nominated for a local award.

  After working in the corporate world, I decided to take my chances and follow my hobby. It’s only been a few months into it, but I feel confident with my choice. Taste testing new treats may be killing me, but I am doing my best to balance it with green smoothies and afternoon runs.

  Which is also why I feel confident in my dark blue V-neck dress that shows a little triangle of skin in the front. It is casual, yet cute. I grab my glass of champagne and take a sip of the bubbly liquid, listening vaguely to our friend Harper—who has a wedding of her own coming up—talk about wedding ideas from Pinterest, which in her world is clearly the place that holds the answers to all humanity.

  Looking around, I see great people, but they are also all soaking in their happily ever after. Max and Harper met when she was his client, buying real estate through his company. Abby and Lucas were united after they both went through divorces with other people. Jess and Leo just pulled off a secret wedding. It’s not that I’m moping around as everyone lives in their bliss, because I most certainly am not. This mid-height beauty knows her time will come.

  It’s just… it’s been so long.

  “Jake is coming, right?” Lucas asks Leo loud enough for my ears to perk up.

  Here we go again, because Lucas has mentioned this Jake guy a few times as a potential date for me. But I was once with a Jake when I lived in Chicago, and to be honest, there is only one in my book.

  Been there, done that, and wore his t-shirt kind of situation.

  By default, Lucas’s friend has no chance as I would never get past the name. So, I never bothered to hear the whole pitch for why I should go on a date with the guy.

  “Yeah, he should be stopping by any moment now for a round,” Leo confirms. “He was busy finalizing the legalities of a deal for me like the shark he is. Owe the guy a bottle of Matchbox’s finest,” he says, then quickly looks back to his new wife who is sitting on his lap.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Lucas grin as he gets up from his seat to welcome the new arrival to the room. “It’s been a few weeks, man. How have you been?” I hear.

  “Yeah. Had a crazy case load and Leo has been keeping me busy,” that voice explains a little cheekily.

  It sends a chill down my spine. It is too familiar. Way too familiar.
<
br />   I know it. I remember it.

  Wait a sec…

  The name Jake, plus Leo mentioned legalities. That equates to law. Which means it could be assumed this Jake guy is a lawyer or attorney.

  Holy mother of… What are the chances that the guy whose t-shirt I wore after screaming his name many times… is their Jake? The mathematical odds of this surely are not high.

  “Busy with work-work or secret weddings?” Lucas jokes.

  That voice laughs. That vibrant laugh. “Why do you think I grabbed a glass of champagne?” he answers.

  I already know the smirk slapped across his face as he says it. It is a mix of charisma and trouble, yet so incredibly warm. Maybe a dimple appears too.

  My mind has an overflow of memories, I get utterly lost in thought. I continue to listen to my cousin speak and throw on a faint smile as I pretend to listen; I have no idea what she’s even saying. No concept of time either, as a rushing feeling of blood flows to my chest. I’m only brought back to reality when I hear someone say my name.

  “I guess you haven’t met Avery yet. Let me introduce you two,” Lucas announces.

  I do not want my eyes to look up. I do not want the confirmation that the voice is the voice I remember.

  The one that charmed me, melted me, comforted me, and then became too painful to be around, yet I still dream of.