Holiday in Danger Read Online Free PDF Page B

taillights glowed down the drive.  
    Ian shut the door behind him and leaned on the burled wood. “Remind me why I throw these again?”
    He could hear the tension in Trent’s voice. “Because you’re an attention whore.”
    “Right.” Ian pushed himself off the door and ran his hand over his hair to smooth it back. “Did Holly leave?”
    Trent faltered. “She should have. We can’t be partying like this, Ian. We need to be working.”
    “I thought that’s what you were doing? Checking on everyone here and investigating potential threats.”
    Trent huffed. “It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
    “And why is that?”
    Trent’s lips thinned into a line.
    “You mean because Holly’s here.”
    “Partially.”
    Ian didn’t know what to think. He’d never fought with Trent over a woman. It used to be the age difference—with five years on Trent, the situation never came up when they were younger. But now? Would Holly really come between them?
    He ran his tongue over his lower lip and stared at his friend. They’d drifted apart when Ian went to college. Trent had gone military and turned into the good guy. Ian had moved into restaurants and bars. Then shipping. It was only when a competitor recommended Trent’s services that they’d reconnected.
    In the years since? Sure, they’d gone out together. Hit the clubs. Bars. They’d never argued. Not once. Ian tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “How interested are you?’
    Trent shrugged, but the tension in his shoulders didn’t ease. “It doesn’t matter. It’s bad timing.”
    Ian snorted. “That’s crap and you know it. No one can work twenty-four seven.”
    “Isn’t that what you’re paying me for?”
    “No. I’m paying you to catch the bastards. Doesn’t mean we can’t engage in…other pursuits.”
    The muscles in Trent’s jaw flexed. “What are you saying?”
    Ian didn’t know. Not entirely. “Let’s see where it goes. That’s all.”
    “I’m not getting into some competition with you, Ian.”
    “I never said anything about a competition.”
    “So what? You mean leave it up to Holly to choose?”
    Visions of Blake and Devin and their fiancée flashed in Ian’s mind and he grinned. “Not everything has to be about winning.” Trent frowned as Ian stepped closer. “Sometimes it’s a tie.”
    * * *
    HOLLY

    Holly fidgeted with the hem of her dress. She never expected to run into Ian or Trent coming back to Midnight Cove. Feeling a spark of attraction to anyone? Let alone two? Ridiculous. Things like that didn’t happen to her.
    As she skimmed her toes across the inky surface of the pool, the water rippled.
    Ian Knowles. She knew he had more money than she could fathom. A huge house. Tons of friends. But she’d forgotten how his eyes lit up when he smiled. How the warmth of his skin seeped straight to her core. How desperate she’d been all those years ago for him to kiss her. Just once.
    Even then he’d been out of her league. It used to be age. Six years was an eternity for a teenager. Now it was…different.
    She was an adult. Independent and on her own. He wasn’t the older boy next door with moppy hair and an infectious grin. He was all man and irresistible. Long hair dripping wet as he sprang out of the pool. Abs flexing as water ran down in rivulets. Holly swallowed.
    Then there was Trent. From the short hair, to the eyes that saw right past her bullshit, to the way he held back and acted the gentleman even when she covered him in frosting. He’d changed so much, but still managed to stop her heart. Damn .
    Holly shook her head. I need to get it together. She flicked her toes in the water and glanced out at the darkness. The sound of the waves crashing on shore melded with her own splashing and the edge of the pool disappeared into the horizon of ocean water.
    Midnight Cove was full of magic. It captured people and held them in it’s gorgeous grip. It’d snared Hillary. Would it snare her too? Did she want it