A Reason to Stay Read Online Free PDF Page A

around her back and she felt their strength pull her in an upward motion through the water. Seconds later, her head broke the surface. She sputtered, choked.
    â€œAre you all right?” Chuck grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the deck of the boat, next to where her notes and microphone lay abandoned.
    Faith rubbed at her eyes. After barely daring to open them, she grabbed at a piece of something slimy clinging to her face. She yanked the offending plant off her cheek and coughed.
    A spindly stick of a man with teeth too big for his face rushed up the dock. “Hey, that’s my boat!”
    Chuck held up his hand. “Sorry, dude. We’re sorry.”
    â€œIs the lady okay?” the owner asked, frowning.
    Chuck stood. “Yeah, she’s fine. Just wet.”
    She wiped her face again, already feeling the heat of humiliation warming her cheeks. What had she been thinking? She’d let her zeal for a good shot unknowingly place her in a vulnerable situation that led straight to catastrophe. Now what was she going to do?
    Chuck helped her rescuer into the boat then. The dark-haired volunteer, the one she’d purposely ignored, perched himself next to her. He was drenched, his legs dangling off the bow of the flat bass boat. Tiny pieces of green plant particles clung to his yellowvest. He gave her a sideways look, and Faith couldn’t help but notice his blue-jean eyes lined with thick dark lashes.
    â€œUh, thank you,” she murmured, grateful the embarrassing incident hadn’t been broadcast on a live shot. It was bad enough the small crowd watching from the shore had seen.
    Hopefully, Chuck could edit the footage and save the broadcast. Unfortunately, they’d have to wrap the footage with what they had. And she’d missed having him shoot a great close-up of her closing out the segment.
    Her hands brushed dripping auburn hair from her wet shoulders. She’d also have to see to it the cuts didn’t show up on some blooper reel at a future office party. As it was, she’d have to bribe Chuck not to make her the laughingstock at the studio for weeks to come.
    The guy who’d pulled her from the water studied her, his dark blue eyes narrowing as he sized her up.
    â€œWhat?” she said, her tone a bit more curt than intended.
    He held up his palms. “Hey, sorry.”
    Immediately, she felt like a heel. She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just that, well—”
    â€œDo you always do that?” he interrupted with an annoying grin.
    â€œI beg your pardon?” He was teasing her, and she didn’t like it. Not bothering to hide the fact, she tucked her bare foot beneath her and scanned the boat for her missing shoe. “Do you mean staying focused, because a good reporter—”
    â€œUh-huh.” His eyes twinkled and he grinned even wider. “I meant ignoring someone’s warning.”
    He was laughing at her.
    She grabbed her shoe and slipped it on her foot. “Look, thank you and all—but we’re busy here.” She retrieved the microphone she’d dropped.
    He lifted his chin and looked toward the sky, still grinning.
    She scrambled to her feet. “Yeah, so I guess all this is pretty funny.”
    Only feet away, Chuck watched them with apparent amusement as he apologized again to the owner of the boat and promised him they’d be moving along. Even her cameraman was grinning now.
    Faith wrung out her dripping hair. “Glad everyone is so easily entertained, but we still have work to do.”
    â€œHey, I don’t mean to state the obvious here.” Chuck shook his head as he wound a thick black cord. “But you can’t go back on air like that. You’ll need to find a shower or something.”
    Faith gave him a tight-lipped nod. “There’s got to be a motel close,” she ventured, already planning to keep the expenditure off her expense report. Why risk inquiry