Beach Lane Read Online Free PDF

sick of all this dancing around we’ve been doing for way too long now.”
    “And you’ve just had this epiphany this week?”
    “Yes,” she said flatly. “Just tonight, in fact. Deal with it.”
    The blunt order was so unlike Susie, he had no idea how to respond to it.
    “Have you been drinking?” he asked, because he couldn’t come up with any other explanation.
    “Have you ever known me to drink more than an occasional glass of wine?”
    “No, but there’s a first time for everything,” he said. “Has somebody been talking to you, putting ideas into your head?”
    He envisioned Will having some kind of heart-to-heart with her and getting her all stirred up to take charge of things. It would be just like him, since he knew Mack was having second thoughts about the whole proposal thing.
    “Have you seen Will?” he asked suspiciously when she remained silent.
    “I saw him earlier today, but he didn’t give away any of your closely guarded secrets, if that’s what you’re worried about. He and Jake are more tight-lipped than some international spy. I’m sure they could give lessons to the CIA.”
    “Good to know,” he said with relief. Of course, that still raised the question of what had gotten into Susie tonight. Maybe he should invite her over and get to the bottom of this.
    Then, again, given her reckless, unpredictable mood, that could be dangerous…for both of them.
    “I’ll give you a call before Thanksgiving,” he said eventually. “We’ll make plans.”
    “And in the meantime, what?” she demanded. “You’re going to be in hiding?”
    “Something like that. Like I said earlier, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
    “Whatever you say,” she said. “But don’t even think about standing me up on Thanksgiving. If you try to, I will come over to your apartment and drag you out, if necessary. I will bring my brothers, Will, Jake, whoever I need to, to get you to Uncle Mick’s—is that understood?”
    Mack laughed. “What’s not to understand? I have to say, though, that this bossy side of you could take some getting used to.”
    “Something tells me you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to do just that,” she said, her tone unexpectedly sassy.
    She hung up before Mack could come up with an adequate reply. Whether it was alcohol or something in the water, this was definitely Susie as he’d never seen her before. Despite its emergence at the worst possible time, he couldn’t help being fascinated. He’d never before thought of her as having a devious bone in her body, but perhaps he’d been wrong. Perhaps intriguing him had been exactly what she’d been counting on.

    On the day before Thanksgiving, Laila Riley sat in her office at the bank, staring out the window, her mood dark. The upcoming holiday weekend promised to be the most depressing ever. Her parents had decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to London. Her brother would be with Abby and the twins at the O’Briens, leaving her to do what? Nothing, as usual.
    She glanced up as Jess O’Brien—Jess Lincoln, she corrected—walked into her office without being announced.
    “Just as I suspected,” Jess said. “You’re sitting here in a funk.”
    “Who says I’m in a funk?” Laila demanded, sitting up straighter and trying to look more cheerful. “I have a four-day weekend stretching out ahead of me. I have all sorts of plans.”
    “Oh, really? To do what?”
    “You know, the usual Thanksgiving holiday things. I’ll eat a little turkey, hit all the holiday sales on Friday and Saturday.”
    “Let’s say I buy that for a single minute,” Jess said. “With whom are you having that turkey dinner? Your parents have already left for England, and Abby tells me you turned down their invitation to join us.”
    “You can’t possibly shove another person around that already overcrowded table,” Laila said. “Besides, I’m getting tired of the pity invitations.”
    Jess regarded her indignantly.