Seal With a Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

label on it read "Pay to fight,
make up for free. "
    Ahab nodded. "The rule is that whichever of you
starts the fight has to put five bucks in the jar. At the
end of the trip you take the money and go out for a
nice dinner, where you make up for every nasty thing
you said on the road."
    Smitty looked at the jar and imagined it bursting
with fives, tens, and twenties by the time they passed
the Maryland border headed south. His lips stretched
into a smile.

    "Huh. We'll be able to take ourselves off on a
short cruise, never mind dinner," Violet said, paralleling his thoughts like she used to do.
    He was relieved to see she was grinning. When
she'd first come out of the house, she'd looked like
she was walking to her own execution. It bothered
him to think she was dreading their trip. Once upon
a time, they would have loved just such a getaway.
    Once upon a time.
    "Oh, good." Brody approached the truck with his
arm slung across his wife's shoulders. "The boys
gave you their present. Great idea, isn't it?" Maddy
looked up at her husband with a smile, and Smitty
felt a quick jab under his heart at the sight of two
people he loved so obviously in love with each other.
Watching them fall for each other had reminded him
of emotions long buried. Opportunities long missed.
    He glanced over at Violet, but she hadn't noticed
the exchange. She was too busy rummaging in her
"purse," a faded green canvas bag that had contained
at various times everything from an oil-slicked herring gull to a diamond tiara donated for Dolphin
Friendly's annual charity auction.
    "I think you're just sending us off so you can make
some time with that pretty lady there." He grinned
and gestured from Brody to Maddy. "If I'm not
around, you won't have any competition, will you, boss?" He turned with a mock warning to the two
younger members of the team. "Ishmael, Ahab, better
watch out, he'll be sending you off on some trumpedup errand next, just so he can have some time alone
with his wife."

    Ahab shook his head. "Oh, no sir. We're taking
Streaker out to recount the harbor seal pups at the
rookery off the Point."
    Brody's self-satisfied smile was confirmation
enough that he'd planned the distraction. It had taken
the three senior members of the team a full day to
be sure of the original count. It might take the junior
scientists twice that.
    "Okay, here it is," Violet announced, pulling her
wallet out of the disreputable green bag. She selected
two twenty-dollar bills and folded them neatly before
leaning across the stick shift and reaching for the jar
on the dash.
    She was wearing a shirt that Smitty was particularly fond of, a lightly ribbed tank that clung to her
torso and left her strong shoulders and arms bare.
One of those arms brushed against his hand as she
stretched across the truck. His muscles clenched and
his foot depressed the gas pedal, causing the engine
to race higher. If he moved just an inch, he could
touch the bare skin of her shoulder. If he rotated his
hand just a bit, he could trail his finger down the
back of her neck, and then-

    And then what? If she'd wanted him that way, she
would have married him when he'd asked her back
in grad school. She'd turned him down back then
because she hadn't wanted him enough. Why would
things be any different now?
    The engine slowed down as his foot lifted. He consciously unclenched his jaw. She pulled the specimen
jar over to her side of the truck, unscrewed the lid
and dropped the forty dollars inside before returning
the jar to the dash.
    "What's that?" Maddy asked with merriment dancing in her eyes. "An apology for past fights?"
    "Ha!" Violet snickered. "No way." She grinned
wickedly and Smitty felt an answering grin touch his
lips when she said, "That's a down payment on
things to come!"
    She leaned back in her seat, slid on a pair of dark
sunglasses, and crossed her perfect legs. "Drive on
then, Mr. Smith. We have miles to go before we