No Reservations (Special Ops: Tribute Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

question.”
    Her brow scrunched. “What was your question?”
    He pushed his bucket of tools to the side of the foyer. “Why
aren’t you open?”
    She laughed at his perceptiveness. She had been
dodging that question—not just from him, but from herself. “Well, the
renovations took a lot longer than I thought. I had some wet basement problems
and—”
    “Still evading…”
    Her eyes rolled upward. “Now you’re being mean. But okay. I
had some finishing touches I wanted to put on—new faucets in all the
bathrooms. I’ve got a door that won’t quite close properly and those
bookshelves…”
    “And all that could be completed in a day.”
    Her shoulders sagged. “Okay, okay. I guess I just have a
case of—I don’t know—cold feet.” She used the words that her
parents seemed to say every time they called.
    “Cold feet?”
    “Yeah. I mean, I want it to be perfect. The place had some
pretty mediocre reviews online when my aunt ran it just because it was in need
of some updates, you know? And reviews like that kill a business. She was
really struggling. And I guess I was just a little scared about opening to a
full house. Commissioning Week is huge here. People look forward to it all
year. And visitors expect perfection.”
    “So you want to open when things are a little slower, so
that you can kind of ease into it?”
    “Yeah, I guess that’s it.” Or at least it was a simpler
explanation. “I’m changing the name so I can kind of wipe the slate clean
online.”
    “What are you naming it?”
    “The Shifting Sands.”
    He tilted his head. “That’s unusual for an inn.”
    She bit her lower lip. “Is it bad?”
    “No, no. I like it. I like unusual. Why Shifting Sands?”
    “It’s something my aunt told me once. About how people are
all like sands shifting on the beach. A wave comes, brushes two grains of sand
together for a short time, then another wave comes along and pulls them apart. And
those grains rest next to other ones.”
    “Kind of like people in an inn. You meet. Then they go their
separate ways and new people come in.”
    “Exactly,” she answered, surprised he saw the metaphor in
it. “And with all the waterfront around here, I thought it would work.” She
tilted her head. “So enough about me. Tell me about this place you’re opening
with your friends. Ice cream, you said, right?”
     “Yeah. I’m on a bit of a reconnaissance mission right
now. I’m going to check out some rentals on Main Street. Maybe along City…
Square, was it?”
    “You mean, City Dock?”
    “Yeah, that was it. I’m probably the wrong guy on our team
to be doing this since I’m the only one of us who’s never set foot in Annapolis
till today. But most my partners are OCONUS now.”
    Her face pinched upwards, straining to recall the many
military acronyms Tyler used to toss around. “OCONUS?”
    “Sorry. Outside the Continental U.S.” He grimaced. “I guess
I have to stop talking in acronyms now that I’m a civilian. They’re still
active duty, so really more of the silent partner type. We’re woefully underqualified
to open an ice cream shop. But we’ve got a secret weapon who has an ice cream
recipe that is the closest to heaven you’ll ever get on this planet.”
    “No kidding?”
    “No kidding. Becca. She’s always wanted to open up a shop,
and so I kind of got sold on the idea. Then I had a few of the guys sample some
flavors, and they’re all plunking down their money, too.”
    Becca , Bridget thought, not hearing much of what he said after he
uttered her name. She couldn’t help noticing the way his features softened the
moment he spoke of her, and that look of near-reverence that told her Becca was
much more than a business partner.
    Seeing as he left the Navy to open an ice cream shop with
her, they must be pretty serious.
    Bridget couldn’t help the stab of envy, wishing someone was
standing at her side while she tried to make this B & B work. She couldn’t
even manage