Gansett After Dark Read Online Free PDF

use the other as a pillow—a rather muscular pillow. “There. How’s that?”
    “Good. Really good.” She couldn’t stop staring at his lips. Now that she’d had a taste of him, she wanted much more, but she had no idea how to tell him that. Her needs, her desires had never been considered in her marriage. “Could we, maybe…”
    “Kiss some more?”
    “Yes,” she said with a sigh, relieved that he’d said the words for her.
    “I’d love to. Thought you’d never ask.”
    She laughed and allowed him to bring her even closer to him. As he slid his leg between hers and drew her into yet another kiss, Sarah relaxed against his muscular body and gave in to the desire that had simmered between them during months of platonic friendship. Kissing him was every bit as wonderful as she’d suspected it would be. And knowing he loved her only made it that much better.

Chapter 4
    “Would you guys mind if I took Holden up to give him his bath?” Shane asked as the sun headed for the horizon.
    “Would we mind that, Owen?” Laura asked playfully. “Hmm, we would not mind at all.”
    “What she said,” Owen replied.
    Shane scooped his nephew out of the sand and wrapped a towel around him.  
    At the word “bath,” Holden squealed and chortled. It was his favorite time of day.
    “Come on, my little sugar doughnut,” Shane said. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
    “Make sure you rinse all the cracks and crevices,” Laura said.
    “We got this, don’t we?” Shane asked Holden, who clapped with glee.
    Shane laughed and headed for the stairs with his bundle.
    “They’re so cute together,” Owen said as he watched them go.
    “I was thinking the same thing earlier. Shane is crazy about him.”
    “And vice versa.”
    “Shane seems better, don’t you think?” Laura asked.  
    “A thousand times better than he was. Gansett has worked its magic on him the way it does for everyone.”
    Laura leaned her head against Owen’s shoulder and watched the sunset explode into deep magentas and oranges and purples that cast a warm glow upon the flat, calm water. “It certainly worked its magic on me.”
    He took her hand and linked their fingers. “And me.”  
    He’d been unusually quiet all evening, allowing her and Shane to carry the conversation and Holden to entertain them.  
    “Are you okay?” She needed to know but was almost afraid of his answer.
    “Yeah.”
    “O?” she asked, shortening his name the way Evan often did.
    “Hmm?”
    “I know it’s your way to go quiet and keep to yourself when you’re troubled, and that’s okay if it’s what you need to do. But I hope you know I’m right here, and I want to help if I can.”
    “I know you do, and I’m trying to let you in. It’s just… It’s hard.”
    The pain she heard in his voice killed her and made her wish there was something—anything—she could do to spare him the awful ordeal that loomed so large for him. Though she wanted to encourage him to talk to her, instead she gave him the silence he seemed to need. As darkness encroached upon their slice of paradise, Laura reluctantly withdrew her hand from his grasp.
    “I should go feed Holden and put him down.”
    “I’ll clean up down here and be right along.”
    She kissed his cheek. “Don’t take too long.”
    “I won’t.”
    Sensing he needed some time to himself, Laura left him staring out at the water and walked up the stairs that led to the deck. At the landing, she used the hose to wash the sand off her feet and then stepped on the towel she’d carried from the beach to dry them. The sound of happy voices, the clatter of dishes and the tinkle of crystal stemware coming from Stephanie’s Bistro in the lobby followed her up the stairs to the third floor.
    In the apartment, Shane was stretched out on the floor next to Holden, who was playing with his stuffed animals. He was dressed in his zebra pajamas, and his hair was still damp from the bath. His face lit up with delight at