Gull Harbor Read Online Free PDF

butter, safe in its little compartment. Everything else oozed together on the kitchen linoleum in an appalling mess.
    She sank to her knees, the hem of her sundress falling into the bloody mixture of tomato sauce and milk. “Why are you doing this to me?” she moaned. Tears blurred her vision as she surveyed the damage.
    She had to get out of this house before she turned destructive as well. Gripping the counter’s edge, she hauled herself up to standing. She skirted the giant puddle, using her foot to kick the refrigerator shut before yanking open the back door and stumbling into the yard.
    The path to the lake beckoned to her right, and she marched toward it without glancing back at the house. Half-buried rocks and twisted roots sprouted from the packed dirt along the trail, and she tripped twice in her wedge heels before she slowed her pace. With her luck, she’d fall and break her neck. At least then someone else would have to clean the kitchen.
    The trail led her along the perimeter of the kettle pond, opening to a sandy beach with a playground area tucked into a clearing in the woods. She wandered over and lowered herself into the rubber seat of a swing with a heavy sigh.
    In the past week, she’d lost all of her hair and skin products, and now all of her perishable food. Her last grocery bill had been enormous, and now half of it was gone. She couldn’t afford this kind of paranormal fury.
    Her head snapped up at the sound of approaching footsteps. A lone runner emerged from the trail leading to the beach from the opposite direction.
    Max. Her heart knew it a second before her eyes confirmed it. He slowed to a stop and turned toward the playground before he noticed her. “Oh,” he said, the surprise evident in his voice. “Hey.”
    “Hey,” she replied. She watched the rivulets of sweat trickle down his bare chest as she waited for the inevitable confrontation.
    He dragged an arm across his forehead and planted his hands on his hips. Silence stretched out between them, broken only by the sporadic drilling of a nearby woodpecker.
    “I’ll go,” she said simply. She’d had enough for one day.
    “No. You were here first. I’m just going to get in a quick set of pull-ups if that’s okay.”
    She shrugged, pushing the swing with her toe. “Knock yourself out.”
    Grabbing the highest metal bar in a set of three, he bent his long legs at the knee and dangled for a moment. Then he pulled his body weight up, his muscles bunching and rippling with the effort.
    Her own body began its treacherous reaction, sending heat between her thighs as she admired his strength. She tightened her hands around the swing’s chains and dug her nails into her palms. He was counting reps under his breath, and she counted along with him in her head in an attempt to distract herself.
    “What?” he asked, pausing.
    She’d been staring at him. Oh, God. Tearing her gaze away, she struggled to come up with something. “That’s…impressive,” she managed, gesturing toward him with her chin. Not great, but better than “Sorry, I was busy fantasizing about you.”
    He laughed dismissively. “If you think this is impressive, you need to get out more.”
    “I wish I could. But I’m banned from the only place anyone goes around here.” The tears she’d been fighting for the last hour broke through, and she jumped off the swing and headed back toward the path.
    Max was behind her in an instant. “Hey. I didn’t ban you from my place. You’re the one that said you wouldn’t come to the tavern.”
    She nodded, swiping at her eyes, but it was too late. He could see that she was crying.
    “Really, Claire, don’t be upset. You can come to Max’s anytime.”
    She nodded. “Thanks. But I’m just reacting to something that happened earlier.”
    “What happened?” The concern in his voice made her heart contract painfully. He stepped in front of her, forcing her to either stop or run into him.
    “Just something with the