Facing the Music Read Online Free PDF Page B

Forget it.” She brushed past him, stumbling to the back porch and up the stairs before flinging open the screen door. She let the door slam shut behind her, marched over to the rocking chair, and sat down with her arms folded over her chest.
    Blake made his way over to the bottom of the stairs. “You just gonna sit there all night?”
    “You found me. Eventually someone else will, too. Hopefully someone who doesn’t get pleasure out of torturing me.”
    “Oh, I can guarantee someone will find you. I intend to call everyone I know to come by and say hi. I bet folks don’t know you’re back in town yet.”
    Ivy’s dark green eyes widened in fear, but she bit her tongue. Until he turned and started down the dock. “See you later, Little Miss Rock Star.”
    “Wait! You’re leaving me like this?”
    Blake stopped, his back to her. His boat was only a few feet away. It was so tempting, and it would be so easy, to get into that boat and speed away. He even got all the way into the boat. Why shouldn’t he? Ivy hadn’t given any thought to his feelings. She hadn’t called him to warn him before the song came out. He’d been blindsided. Humiliated. She could use a taste of that for herself.
    But before he could start the engine, he found himself grabbing two towels and walking back up the dock to the cabin. His grandma would tan his hide if he left a lady in this situation.
    He climbed the steps and opened the screen door. Ivy had gotten up while he was in the boat. Now she was standing there, in those damned bikini bottoms, looking at him with the big doe eyes he could never resist. The muscles in his neck and jaw tensed as he fought the urge to reach for her and kiss the pout from her full lips. He ached for her to wrap her arms around his neck so her bare breasts would press against his chest. One tug of the string and those bikini bottoms would fall to the deck.
    Because that would be so helpful to the situation. With a shake of his head, he thrust one towel at her. “For heaven’s sake, cover up.”
    Pushing past her toward the window, he used the second towel to wrap his arm. With a hard whack, his padded elbow broke one of the glass panes. Brushing away the loose shards of glass, Blake reached through the gap to unlock the door.
    “Ta-da!” he said as it swung open wide and her bikini top fell to the floor.
    Ivy hobbled around him to the door and stepped inside. Turning immediately once she crossed the threshold, she bent over and picked up her suit top. She looked at him. “Thanks,” she said.
    Then she closed the door in his face.

Chapter Three
    What the hell was she doing here? How had this happened? Ivy honestly had no clue.
    It was eight o’clock on Saturday night. A night Ivy fully intended to spend in her cabin working. After her run-in with Blake, she had no interest in running into anyone else in town. And yet here she was, sitting in Pepper’s SUV outside Woody’s Bar. Pepper was glaring angrily at her through the windshield, her arms crossed over her chest, irritated because Ivy had taken her keys, locked her out of her own car, and refused to go inside.
    It was a surreal development for a night that should’ve been anything but noteworthy.
    After Blake left, Ivy had watched the road like a hawk all evening, waiting for the parade of people Blake had promised, but no one came, thankfully. At least until suppertime, when a little red SUV she didn’t recognize pulled up outside.
    It was Pepper, her first official visitor, and fortunately one she didn’t mind.
    “We’re going out!” Pepper had announced. Ivy had argued with her. She needed to work. She didn’t want to go out. She wasn’t ready to face the people in town sober, much less drunk. Excuse after excuse fell from her lips, but Pepper was a force of nature—a whirlwind who couldn’t be reasoned with. It also helped that she played to Ivy’s weaknesses.
    Nearly every day of the past few years, Ivy had been plopped into a chair