Catch of a Lifetime Read Online Free PDF Page B

suits, shorts, tops, pants… racks and racks of everything… She'd died and gone to Shopping Olympus.
       Then she found a rack of tiny, silky shorts in vibrant colors and patterns with matching bikini tops next to them. She let the silky fabric flow through her fingers and over the back of her hand. It felt so different dry than when it was waterlogged. She loved her home, wouldn't give up the beauty of Atlantis for anything, with all the different hues of coral and patterns of brightly colored fish and the jewel-toned tails of her people, but fabric had a much better consistency out of the sea.
       " Blech ." Michael knocked his hat sideways. "Girl stuff."
       "Girls like girl stuff, Michael," his father said, straight ening the hat. "Someday you'll be glad about that."
       "Nuh-uh. Girl stuff is yucky."
       "Not if you're a girl." Angel reached in front of him for the perfect pair of purple shorts, a few shades darker than her amethyst tail, with delicate filigree like lace coral around the edges, then held them against the tops of her legs. "What to do you think of these?"
       Michael shrugged his shoulders, but Logan turned the most interesting shade of red and walked away without a word. An odd garbled sound, but no word. Was that some Human language she wasn't familiar with?
       Michael just giggled. "Logan still doesn't know you're a mermaid, does he?"
       She shook her head. "No. And you have to remember not to say anything."
       "I won't. I promise. I always wanted my very own mermaid. I hope you get your tail back soon. I liked it."
       She was going to have to remind him about that word, mermaid . Mer. Period. As for the my part? She wasn't a pet, for Apollo's sake. "I like it too, Michael, but right now it's probably not a good—"
       "Oh, that's a lovely style," said the Human approach ing them, "but you're right, it's not exactly the best color for you. And I don't think a sixteen is the size you want." The woman took the garment and pointed to a selection beside her. "Here. This rack has your size. I would go with a softer color. Lavender, perhaps."
       Logan arrived behind the woman with such a look of relief on his face Angel might have thought he'd discovered Captain Kidd's treasure, except that wasn't possible because the pirate's bounty was on display in Atlantis, and Humans didn't know about it.
       "Angel, this is Wendy. She'll help you with what you need. Michael and I have a few things to pick up. We'll be back in"—he looked at Wendy and pulled a small, rectangular piece of shiny plastic from his wallet—"an hour?"
       Ugh. Plastic. One of her brother's reasons for starting the Mer-Human Coalition was to combat Humans' dis posal of the vile compound. And now Logan wanted her to use it? Well, she'd use all of it so there'd be nothing left to contaminate the environment.
       "I think we can manage to occupy our time," Wendy said, taking the plastic from him.
       "I'm sure you will." Logan's smile thinned as he called a reluctant Michael to him.
       "But I don't wanna go!" Michael took a step behind Angel.
       A hurt look crossed Logan's face.
       Angel couldn't have that. She was here to observe and report, not influence their lives. Coming between a parent and a child was forbidden in any world.
       She put a hand on Michael's head and tilted it back. "It's okay, Michael. I told you I'm not going anywhere."
       "You promise?"
       "Of course I do." Especially since she didn't have a clue where she'd go or how she'd get there. "Now, go with your father and let me finish up here."
       Logan smiled at her, and Angel had the oddest sensation in her toes. They tingled. No one had men tioned that in any study she'd read.
       "Okay." Michael stepped out from behind her and headed toward Logan. "But we're gonna come back real soon."
       She certainly hoped so. She really had no other choice but to trust Logan when he said she was in