Beach Winds Read Online Free PDF

from it. Just walk away. She headed outside to cool down in the brisk February air.
    She stood on the porch. The ocean was loud, but its roar was regular in rhythm and the worst of the crashing sounds were borne off by the wind. The sun was nice, but misleading. It promised warmth, but wind from a winter ocean could only be cold.
    “Hello?”
    She jumped when the man spoke. Brian Donovan. He stood below the side of the porch; his sandy hair and his forehead were barely visible from this angle. Then he moved and she realized he was coming up to the porch. To join her.
    He still had the hooded sweatshirt on, but the leather jacket was gone. His jeans looked well worn, or worn well.
    She reached up to smooth her blouse and her hair, but caught herself in time. Her hands were a paint-smeared mess like the rest of her. She plucked at the pants leg adhering to her skin, then waved her hands to show him she didn’t care.
    She tried to laugh it off. “I’m working on a new fashion.”
    After a pause during which he seemed to assess her, he smiled. Something happened to his face. He jaws and chin were still stubble-covered, but his eyes brightened and his whole face re-shaped into something fresh, someone engaging. She couldn’t help herself and smiled back.
    “ I was painting.”
    “ I see.” He frowned. “But what?”
    “ Funny.” She laughed. “Don’t take this wrong, but where’d you come from?”
    He nodded toward the side of the house. “I was checking that lattice. It needed another screw.”
    “ Of course, you fix things.” That felt lame.
    He started to speak and then stopped and shrugged. “Yeah.”
    “ What else do you do?”
    “ Ma’am?”
    “ Do you paint?”
    He gestured at her slacks. “Paint? As in house painting?”
    She nodded. “Interior painting.”
    After a long pause, he said, “I can.”
    That sounded supremely non-committal. Which actually she liked. Not an overwhelming ‘sure let’s get it done.’ But a more thoughtful approach. She sensed he was also chagrined, probably by his profession. She pretended not to notice. She understood being embarrassed about not feeling good enough.
    “ I want to give the interior of my uncle’s house a facelift. A fresh coat of paint.”
    Brian looked at the sliding doors as if recalling how the interior was laid out. “I don’t guess he’d mind.”
    She shrugged. “Either way.”
    “ What does that mean?”
    “ Whether he comes home, or doesn’t, he won’t mind.”
    She knew she ’d stepped wrong somehow and said the wrong thing. The atmosphere around them soured, and Brian was already turning away. He was leaving and taking his good humor with him. No, scratch that, his good humor had already vanished. So had hers.
    It ticked her off. She raised her voice and called after him.
    “I’ll pay whatever the going rate is. Unless you’re not interested.” She said it like a challenge, believing he wasn’t interested, knowing he was leaving.
    He stopped on the step and looked back. “When do you want me to start?”

     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    What had possessed him to agree to paint Will ’s house? He could’ve walked away. It wasn’t a big deal, but a paint job? Not his favorite pastime.
    It was one thing to do favors for Will, but for this woman ? For a brief moment, he’d seen…what? A woman who was full of trouble, that much was obvious. Those two vertical lines etched between her eyebrows were an obvious warning sign. He felt some sympathy figuring she was torn up about her uncle.
    T hen she did what every woman ultimately did, except this one didn’t waste any time. Her true nature came out and her cold practicality outdid even a winter gale on the ocean. What had she said? ‘Either way?’ Like it meant nothing. As if whether Will Denman recovered or not was all the same to her.
    Her own uncle. Will had said he trusted her. For her, this was nothing more than business. To sell the place faster. She only wanted to run