Seal the Deal (1Night Stand Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

obvious ogling from a woman she’d always deemed respectable. She suspected Finn had reduced many a woman to slobbering pools of mush with his good looks, hulk-like presence, and boyish charm.
    “Overseas.”
    “Nowhere warm I’m guessing, because you’re pale, dear.” She patted him on the shoulder, lingering for a few seconds.
    “Bit of a local legend, are you?” Anne blurted.
    “He’s the man who has a string of broken hearts trailing behind him, but we never saw him around. Well, except for those girls who used to go Finn-watching at the farm back in the day.”
    “The ones from the book club?”
    “The same ones, mind you, who could blame them? He is so good with his hands.”
    Anne glanced at him holding onto a coffee cup. “Really?”
    “He renovated the old lighthouse keeper’s cottage for his parents and built all the out-buildings on the Kneale farm. The pretty gazebo, the windmill, all the barns. Oh yes, he’s very talented, aren’t you, Finn?” Bethany’s tone held a hint of something she couldn’t quite fathom. Bitterness?
    He nodded.
    “Impressive.” Anne glanced at his hands. Good-sized. Her mind wandered to when he had patted down her thighs and when he had held her close. Such a gentle yet commanding touch. “Such smooth skin dinnae belong to a workman.”
    He cleared his throat. “I moisturize.”
    “You know, most men wouldn’t admit tae such a girlie thing.”
    He grinned, smile lines warming his yummy features. Was that flecks of seafoam in his steel blue eyes? Coupled with his wiggling nose.... Could he be selkie?
    “I don’t know a single woman here in Port St. Mary who wouldn’t want this guy on her arm, including my daughter. You’re a lucky lady.” Bethany poised her pencil over the notebook. “Are you two ready to order?”
    He reached over the table and intertwined his fingers in Anne’s. “Would you like to take a walk?”
    “It’s a bit too blustery out there for a walk, don’t you think? Besides, I’m starving.”
    “Maybe stroll along the coast after dinner?” Bethany interrupted. “Go see those beautiful seals. If legends are true, there is a selkie in human form searching for their one true love tonight. Mystical things happen on this Isle during Leap. I have some winter coats you lovebirds can borrow if you wish. I noticed you didn’t bring one with you, Anne.”
    “I’m starving.” She grabbed a laminated menu then hid behind it.
    “I’m so sorry, dear. Here I am, rabbiting on when all you want is a romantic night alone with this handsome thing.”
    “Tell me more about this selkie legend,” Finn piped up, much to Anne’s surprise.
    Bethany tsked. “Don’t play dumb with me, Finn. Everyone around here knows about the selkie.”
    “I’ve been away for four years. Why don’t you refresh my memory?”
    “Are you telling me you can’t recall the families who suffered the most terrible curse after capturing a mermaid?”
    “Maybe I can’t.” He smirked “Or maybe I enjoy hearing you tell your stories.”
    “Fine. After they caught the mermaid and separated her from her family and her beloved ocean, she cursed their children to be lifeless, to walk earth in a mindless, goal-less existence.”
    “Go on.” He placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his hands.
    She folded her arms. “Every leap year, they hear the song of the sea luring them in. If their toes touch the ocean, the wild water claims them as selkie. Only when they find true love can they return to their human lives. But those poor souls, so separated from the world, how could they ever find a love powerful enough to break such a curse?”
    Anne had heard this story a thousand times over, read books on the subject in the library, heard tales from townsfolk, seen passages in her mother’s journals. Each version differed slightly.
    “Surely this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this tale, Finn? Being a native to the Isle and all,” Anne questioned.
    He