The Other Half (Door Peninsula Passions Book 1) Read online

  The Other Half

  Door Peninsula Passions, Volume 1

  Katherine Hastings

  Published by Flyte Publishing, 2019.

  THE OTHER HALF

  Copyright © 2019 by Katherine Hastings

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For information contact :

  http://www.katherinehastings.com

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-949913-12-5

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-949913-13-2

  First Edition: June 2019

  Editing: Tami Stark

  Proofreading: Vicki McGough

  www.katherinehastings.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  The Other Half (Door Peninsula Passions, #1)

  CHAPTER ONE | Cassandra

  CHAPTER TWO | Cassandra

  CHAPTER THREE | Jake

  CHAPTER FOUR | Cassandra

  CHAPTER FIVE | Cassie

  CHAPTER SIX | Jake

  CHAPTER SEVEN | Cassie

  CHAPTER EIGHT | Jake

  CHAPTER NINE | Cassie

  CHAPTER TEN | Jake

  CHAPTER ELEVEN | Jake

  CHAPTER TWELVE | Cassie

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN | Jake

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN | Jake

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN | Cassie

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN | Jake

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | Cassie

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN | Jake

  CHAPTER NINETEEN | Cassie

  CHAPTER TWENTY | Cassie

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE | Jake

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO | Jake

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE | Cassie

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR | Cassie

  DOOR PENINSULA PASSIONS

  Coming next in 2020

  OTHER BOOKS TO READ

  DAGGERS OF DESIRE SERIES

  THANK YOU FOR READING

  THE OTHER HALF

  Door Peninsula Passions

  Book One

  When spoiled socialite Cassandra Davenport takes things one step too far, her grandfather gives her an ultimatum—prove she can live without her famous name and riches or give up her place in the family legacy. With nothing but a hundred dollars, her tiny dog, and a car that should've died in the eighties, she heads to the family cabin in Door County to prove she's more than just a pretty face with a trust fund.

  Local fisherman Jake Alton doesn't know much about the woman who showed up at the rundown shack next door, other than the fact she's putting a damper on his solitary and secluded lifestyle. Even though he tries to avoid this intruder to his sanctuary, the beautiful woman proves impossible to ignore.

  As Cassandra struggles to adapt to her new rustic lifestyle, Jake struggles to keep his wounded heart out of her hands. But even though they try to resist each other, these two opposites do more than attract... they collide.

  THE OTHER HALF is the first romantic comedy in the Door Peninsula Passions series. While each book can be read as a standalone, they will be most enjoyable if read in order. These light-hearted romances take you throughout the Door County Peninsula and are filled with laughter, romance, and passion!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Cassandra

  The music pounded, and I closed my eyes, letting the bass pulse through me while I moved to the sound. Even though I shared the dance floor with a hundred other people, I felt totally alone while the tunes thumped and the floor beneath me vibrated from the dancing crowd. Enjoying the solitude in a sea of people, I forced the weight of my problems off my shoulders and let the music transport me away. The DJ worked his magic once more, and the crowd roared their approval, but my eyes remained shut against the din.

  “Cassandra!”

  Though I heard Liza calling my name, I ignored her, remaining in the bubble I slipped away to each night I hit the clubs and danced.

  “Cassandra!” Liza shouted with more force, and my eyes snapped open when she gripped my arm.

  “What?” Turning to see her, I shouted over the loud music.

  “Donovan is looking for you!” she yelled into my ear, trying to win out over the music.

  “I’ll find him later!” The irritation in my voice didn’t go unnoticed, and she widened her eyes in response.

  “He’s looking for you now! Come on!” With her tugging on my arm, I groaned and followed behind, reluctant to leave my prime spot in front of the DJ. The crowd swallowed up the space I’d abandoned and I knew it would take an hour to push my way back in.

  Leaning up into her ear while we pushed through the people, I moaned my displeasure. “Couldn’t he have waited five more minutes? That was my favorite song!”

  She grinned over her sequin-covered shoulder. The gold dress she wore tonight was the one we’d picked up in Milan last week. “He’s got a surprise for you!”

  A surprise. Knowing my boyfriend, Donovan, I knew exactly what that surprise would be, and it wasn’t interesting enough to pull me off the dance floor. At least not tonight.

  Liza lead the way up the stairs and past the bouncers guarding the VIP area. With only one look at me, they stepped out of the way. One of the many perks about life as a New York City socialite... my face worked like a magic key and opened any door or rope that shut out the rest of the world.

  “Cassandra! Over here!” Donovan called, and I scanned the glass tables and velvet booths filled with people I partied with every night. There he sat in the center of our posse with his blond hair brushed back in a swoop and that new Armani suit making him look as stylish as ever. Jessica, James, and Richie sat around him. Besides Liza, Donovan, and I, they were the other half of our group. The papers called us “The Six-Pack” and they loved chronicling our wild jet-setting adventures.

  “Come on, Cassandra! Liza! Hurry!” Jessica waved, and her vodka slid over the lip of her martini glass.

  “Coming!” Liza called, and she quickened our pace through the VIP area. Only the most elite of our society were allowed up here, and they all greeted me with a nod as I meandered through them.

  “Hey, Cassandra. Hot shoes,” Becky said as I passed by.

  “Thanks, Becky. Love the new Louis.”

  “Thanks, babe!” She swept her hand over the newest purse not yet released to the masses.

  “Cassandra! Hurry up!” Donovan called again, and I hurried behind Liza until we arrived at his table. “Baby, I was waiting for you!”

  “Sorry, I was dancing,” I answered, and he responded by yanking me down into his lap.

  “My little dancing queen.”

  “That I am,” I answered after he planted a kiss on my lips. Dancing was my solace, my escape, and it still irritated me that they’d ripped me away from it.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  “Do you, now?”

  With the wave of his hand he gestured to the glass table in the center of our group. There, between the half-empty cocktails, purses, and cell phones was an assortment of pills.

  “Your choice, baby.” His brown eyes danced with excitement and he investigated mine, waiting for my reaction.

  “Not tonight, Donovan,” I said, brushing a stray piece of golden hair from his face and pressing my lips to his, hoping it would distract him.

  Brea
king our kiss, he leaned back and scrunched up his brow. “Come on, Cassandra! Don’t be a party pooper.”

  “Party pooper? What are we... five?” My brow furrowed to match his.

  “Every party has a pooper. That’s why we invited you,” Richie sang-song and my small group of friends burst into laughter then joined him in the taunt.

  “Seriously, you guys. I’m just not into it tonight.”

  Lately I’d been questioning all my recent decisions. The parties. Drinking. Drugs. Even all of you, I thought while I looked at the five faces that accompanied me out to the clubs every night. Sure, we had some laughs, the paparazzi loved us, the music was great, and from what I could remember of our outings, I had fun. But each day when I awoke with a pounding headache, the ache in my gut I had tried to booze away returned with a vengeance and it seemed to deepen even more, cloaking me in dark energy. It had taken two years, but I was starting to realize that numbing the pain didn’t erase it. In fact, it only seemed to amplify it.

  “Come on, baby. Just have some fun.” Donovan leaned forward, careful not to topple me to the floor, and plucked a blue pill from the pile.

  “That one’s my favorite!” Liza said, clapping her hands, and I noticed the diamonds on her manicure for the first time tonight. They glittered in the colored lights pulsing around us. “Come on, Cassandra. What gives?” Pushing out her over plumped red lip, she batted her lash extensions.

  “Sorry, guys. I’m just not in the mood.”

  Donovan pressed the little pill to my mouth, and I pursed my lips tight. I didn’t want it.

  I didn’t want this.

  But despite my best effort to resist, the promise of escape called to me and I felt my resolve loosening along with my lips. With a push the pill popped inside, and I swallowed. My posse cheered their approval and glasses raised in the air. Shoving a glass of champagne in my hand, Donovan kissed me on the cheek, and I swigged the rest of it down. Before I could blink away my regret, I felt the weight I carried with me lift off my shoulders and float away on the notes of the new song.

  “Ouch!” I grunted as I landed on the curb outside my New York high-rise. My friends roared with laughter as I tried to right myself, one leg still in the limo, my dress up over my waist, and my purse contents scattered out on the sidewalk. “That hurt!”

  “Oh my God, Cassandra! You fell!” Jessica laughed, and Liza choked on her drink.

  “I tripped.” With a snort, I rolled over onto my back, and lay on the sidewalk while the upper-east siders passed by and stared down noses wrinkled in disgust.

  “I love you, baby!” Donovan said, freeing my stiletto from the door and folding my leg out of the limo. “I’ll call you!”

  With my limbs now clear of the limo, he closed the door, and I heard the volume go up. With throbbing bass and shaking windows, the car pulled away into the traffic already thick at ten in the morning.

  “Ow,” I grumbled and crawled to my knees, scooping my spilled belongings back into my Birkin. A woman walking a dog side-stepped me and clutched her pearls. The look of pity in her eyes stripped away my buzz, and I realized how ridiculous I looked this late in the morning, crawling along Fifth Avenue. Hurrying to get inside, I tripped on the stairs leading to my building and Archie, the doorman raced to support me.

  “Good morning, Miss Cassandra. Let me help you.” His arm slipped around my waist and I leaned on him for support. It wasn’t the first time he’d needed to help me into my apartment building, and I reminded myself to get him something really good for Christmas this year.

  “Thanks, Archie. You’re the best.” A hiccup punctuated my sentence and drew a smile from Archie.

  “Looks like you had another fun evening, Miss Cassandra. I’ll help you up to your apartment.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” The judgmental voice coming from the lobby ripped the smile from my face, and I cringed against it. Looking up, I saw Eleanor’s stern face with those eyes burning from behind her glasses. As my grandfather’s assistant and head of our household, those keen eyes seemed to see everything. “I’ll take her up.”

  Archie and I exchanged a glance like two busted school children, and I straightened myself up, lifting my gaze to meet hers. “Good morning, Eleanor. It’s not what it looks like.”

  “It never is with you, is it? Follow me.” Without another word she spun on her kitten heel and click-clacked her way to the elevator. Looking at Archie, I sucked the air through my teeth at the exact moment he did. We dissolved into laughter and the click-clacking heels stopped. Eleanor spun around and leveled us with a glare.

  “Oops. Busted,” I whispered to Archie and stumbled off after her, blowing my savior a kiss over my shoulder. “Again.”

  When I reached the elevator, we stood beside one another in silence. The gold arrow counting the floors ticked toward the left as it descended, and both sets of eyes remained fixed on it. I knew she wanted to give me an earful, but the last time she had a few weeks ago, I reminded her she wasn’t my mother. Not even close. Eleanor was just a housekeeper who had no right to speak to me that way. Going off on her wasn’t my proudest moment, and since that day she’d kept her lips sealed when I crawled home each morning. I’d apologized for the outburst, but I could tell she hadn’t forgiven me yet. And I deserved her bitterness. After being there for me through some of the worst days of my life, I’d treated her like nothing more than a servant.

  When the elevator dinged, and the doors opened, she stepped in and I followed like a scolded child. With my blonde hair in tangles and my disheveled appearance, I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked more like a kid who’d just come in from playing outside than a twenty-eight-year-old woman.

  “Your grandfather is waiting to see you,” she said when the doors closed.

  “What?” Whipping my head around to look at her, I searched her face. “Isn’t he at work? What does he want?”

  “To see you.” Where her tone had once held warmth, now only an icy chill remained, sending a shiver up my spine. The warmth had disappeared the morning I insulted her, and she’d finally given up on me. She’d been with my grandfather as his right hand since before I was born. She was his assistant, his head of household, and the woman who held everything in our lives together. After my grandmother passed when I was twelve, she’d felt like one when I needed comfort. And now she felt like a stranger riding beside me leading me to my grandfather as he waited in our apartment upstairs.

  To see me.

  Before I could ask another question, the elevator reached the penthouse and the doors opened to the long corridor that led to our home. On one side was my grandfather’s half of the expansive floor, and mine was on the other. I started after Eleanor and turned toward my bedroom door.

  Her stern voice stopped me in my tracks. “No. Your grandfather wants to see you.”

  Part of the reason I stayed out so late, or I suppose early since it was already ten in the morning, was to avoid his critical glares. Most mornings he left for the office at eight on the dot and I could stumble in as I pleased and fall into bed. Nancy, the cook, would send eggs and fruit to my room and my dog, Poppy, would snuggle up beside me and we’d sleep all day then join him for dinner when I didn’t look like something that washed up in the Hudson River.

  “Let me clean up and change and I’ll come–”

  “Now.” Eleanor’s razor-sharp tone ripped through me. Though she had been curt with me lately this was colder than her new normal. I couldn’t help but wonder why.

  With a nod, I followed her toward the tall doors at the end of the hallway leading to Grandpa’s office. I wondered if this is what it felt like getting marched to the principals’ office. When I was in high school, I never broke a rule or stepped out of line. Though no one who saw me today would believe it, I was a straight-A student, always home by curfew, and I graduated the class valedictorian. But as we approached the towering doors before me, I finally knew what those naughty students felt like.

  “Good mo
rning, Miss Cassandra!” Lily, our newest housekeeper, called from behind us. When I turned to see her, I lit up when I saw my dog bouncing on a leash beside her.

  “Good morning, Lily! And look who it is! Princess Poppy!”

  Dropping to my knees, I opened my arms and Lily released the leash. Poppy sprinted down the hall toward me, running so fast her tiny little ears pressed back into her head, and then she launched all seven pounds of her brown body into my arms.

  “Princess Poppy! I missed you!” Her flat face pressed into mine while she snorted and covered me with kisses. “Are you the most beautiful girl? Like a model! You look just like a beautiful model!” Those big, bulging eyes got wider when I cooed over her and the kisses and snorts continued.

  “I just got her back from her morning walk. She saw a little bulldog on the street she was quite taken with.” Lily smiled.

  “Oh, is that right, Princess Poppy? You met a boy? You little fox!” Poppy wiggled around some more then settled down in my arms. “Thank you for taking her out, Lily.”

  “You’re welcome, Miss Cassandra. She’s just the cutest thing!”

  “Did you hear that, Poppy? She agrees! You’re the cutest thing ever!”

  While I reunited with my little dog, Eleanor cleared her throat and the sense of doom pierced my gut once again. My grandfather waited inside, and from the seriousness of her look and tone I had every right to be worried.

  “I’ll take her from here, Lily. Thanks again.”

  Rising up and clutching Poppy tight, I inhaled a deep breath and tried to look as sober as I could while the doors swung open. Eleanor stepped aside and the fact she remained outside drove the doom a little deeper as I stepped past her. Our eyes met for a moment and I wasn’t sure if it was pity or condemnation I saw in them, but it only lasted for a second before she bowed her head and stepped out, slamming the doors shut behind me.

  “Good morning, Cassandra,” my grandfather said, and I looked up to see him sitting at his mahogany desk wearing a similar expression to Eleanor’s. His grey eyebrows, the only hair left on his head, pressed together while he gestured to the chair across from him.