Seized by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 1): Blue Ryder Read Online Free PDF Page B

here, but we’re going to go for a walk before we need to get back to fix Lizzie’s oven.”
    A walk?
    “Go. Have fun.” Sky shooed them with way too much enthusiasm. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lizzie.”
    “Sounds good,” Lizzie managed, trying not to think about taking a walk with Blue, or the way his hand had already taken up residence on her lower back again. She’d spent so many months avoiding a date with him, and in one night she’d already spent more time alone with him than she had in the last year. And to her surprise, she liked the fluttering in her stomach and the anticipation that was tickling up her spine.

Chapter Four
    AS THEY WALKED away from the warmth of the bonfire, a breeze blew off the water, bringing with it the scents of the sea. Lizzie’s brows furrowed, and Blue knew he was pushing her a little harder toward being alone with him than he’d planned, but hell, she’d looked like her mind was going a million miles an hour. He knew her nature was to handle sixteen things at once, but even the Energizer Bunny needed a break sometimes.
    “So, you grew up in a conservative home?” he asked to break the ice, loving the fact that she hadn’t tried to shake off his touch yet.
    “You could say that. How about you? I’ve met a few of your brothers, and they don’t seem very conservative, but…” She obviously didn’t want to talk about her childhood. Lizzie looked down at the waves crashing along the shore, and the moonlight caught her profile, highlighting her slightly upturned nose, her high cheekbones, and her incredibly distracting, kissable lips.
    Blue took a moment to regain his focus before answering. “My father had strong beliefs about family loyalty and work ethics. He drove home the idea of what a man should be with each of us, and I think he forgot that my sister, Trish, was a girl, because he expected the same tough standards from her as the rest of us. That’s probably how she’s gotten so far in her acting career—on sheer will and wanting to be better than everyone else.”
    “I knew she was an actress, but when you say better than everyone else, do you mean stuck-up?”
    Blue laughed. “No. My sister is anything but stuck-up. She’s competitive as hell. Even growing up she tried to keep up with me and our four brothers, and we’re a tough group. We were always roughhousing and racing around.”
    “It sounds like you had a lot of fun with your siblings. What do your parents do?” Lizzie stopped walking and gazed out over the water.
    “My father is one of the founders of East Coast Search and Rescue.” Blue had always been proud of his father and of the way he’d been raised. “I think it’s safe to say that he has a no-bullshit policy on all things, ranging from taking responsibility to how we treat others. My mother was a little looser with us. She was a stay-at-home mom, and she was always baking and tinkering around with our school projects, building forts out of sheets with us. That kind of thing.”
    “That sounds wonderful. My mom isn’t like that at all. She loves us, but she wasn’t a sit-down-on-the-floor-with-your-kids type of mom. I’m going to be, though. I’m going to be the type of mom who bakes and makes forts for sure. I want my kids to smile every time they think of me.”
    “Don’t you smile when you think of your mom?” Blue watched her eyes drop to the sand again, and his chest burned. He would do anything to give her a reason to smile. He wanted to fold her in his arms until she smiled again, go back in time and give her the childhood she wished she’d had. But he was thankful that she was here, taking a walk alone with him on the beautiful beach in the moonlight. He didn’t want her to feel pressured for more, so he held back.
    He’d been careful not to give any indication of his feelings toward Lizzie to their friends. She’d turned him down enough times that he didn’t want to embarrass her, even though it had been hell