Holiday at Magnolia Bay (Southern Born Christmas Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fund it from the get-go. If anyone here was under suspicion, it was a certain military man who’d shown up out of nowhere to disrupt one of the most important events of Jenna’s career.
    She crossed her arms over her chest and studied him. “Who are you exactly? And how do you fit into this picture?”
    He arched an eyebrow at her. “Let’s just say I’m someone who means to keep my godmother’s financial house in order.”
    “Funny how I’ve known Miss Evie for twenty years and she’s never mentioned having family of any kind, much less a godson.”
    “Funny how I’ve known Aunt Evie my entire life, and she’s never mentioned knowing a freckle-face, turtle-saving, sea goddess.”
    Jenna was shaking with anger—and something else she couldn’t quite define—as she stood from the table. “Miss Evie is very important to me and I won’t see her hurt. By anyone. I’m going to keep a close eye on you, Andrew Lanham.”
    He leaned back in his chair, a wicked grin on his face. “If you’re willing to keep your hands on me, too, I’d say we have a deal.”
    Her entire body was quivering now, even those hard to reach places, and that fueled her anger even further. “You drink too much.” It was childish, but her brain had seemed to cease functioning rationally when faced with the combination of that smile and those eyes.
    His demeanor was suddenly deadly sober. “On the contrary, I don’t drink enough.”
    And that’s when she saw it: That quick haunting flash of horror that soldiers brought back from war. It was a small glimpse at the vulnerability they carried around as a result of the atrocities they’d witnessed. Or performed. But she also knew what those vulnerabilities could do to a man. She’d seen it firsthand.
    He covered it up just as quickly, giving her a smug smile before taking a pull from his beer bottle. Vulnerable or not, he was up to something. And Jenna wasn’t going to let him get away with it. But for now, she needed to put as much distance between the two of them as she could. Her common sense where men were concerned was at an all-time low. Making matters worse, her body seemed to be in the mood to ignore what little common sense remained.
    Unable to trust her mouth, she turned on her heel and ungraciously stormed out. Two years of cotillion shot to hell. Her mother would be so proud.

Chapter Three
    ‡
    “H ow big was the rock on her finger?” Macy asked.
    Jenna looked up from the brochure for the Turtle Center’s Christmas Flotilla and Fishing Tournament she was pretending to study. The event was intended to be a huge holiday money maker for, not only the Center, but the town of Magnolia Bay and the promotional materials needed to be finalized. The problem was she hadn’t been able to focus on a single thing all day. It was after ten o’clock at night and she figured she should just throw in the towel on this crazy day and go to bed. Unfortunately, Macy wasn’t done playing twenty questions—in spite of the fact she’d exceeded that number over an hour ago.
    “Oh my God, out of everything that went down today that’s the question you ask?”
    Her roommate shrugged her shoulders. “I’m a wedding photographer. The size of the ring can tell you a lot about the couple.” Macy laughed. “Usually, it means the groom is making a down payment for future screw-ups. Heck, I had a bride with two and half carats on her hand. The groom didn’t make it out of the reception before he was caught with his pants down in the coat room with the wedding singer.”
    Jenna didn’t want to think about that particular ‘couple’ anymore this evening. She’d avoided Perry since their epic lunch at Evie’s. Hours later, she’d realized that the anger that had been festering inside her all day wasn’t due to heartache—she really hadn’t been as invested in that side of their relationship as she thought—but more from embarrassment at being seriously played by Perry. Especially