Summer at the Shore (Seashell Bay Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

could stay at your place for a little while. Just long enough to get most of the work done.”
    Her head jerked a bit, as if she was surprised. Then she held out her hand. “Deal, dude. And thank you.”
    Morgan should be happy. She
was
happy. Then why did her stomach feel like it was doing cannonballs off a high dock?
    The answer was obvious. Ryan Butler was a very dangerous man. Until last year, she’d firmly stashed him in amental box labeled totally off-limits. It sounded silly, but to her, Ryan was almost a James Bond or Jason Bourne type of guy, a crazy-hot mystery man who did wild, top secret stuff he never talked about. He acted like a normal guy when he was home, except for the sky-high emotional walls he’d erected around himself. Ryan
never
talked about himself or his life. If that didn’t spell danger, she didn’t know what did.
    And now she’d flat-out invited Mr. Sexy Mystery Man into her life. Into her
home
.
    “For goodness’ sake, Morgan, why didn’t you put all that stuff in cargo?” Julia Butler asked after she finally relaxed the fierce squeeze she’d put on her son. They stood in the center of the dock as disembarking passengers parted like a wave and flowed around them.
    Ryan grinned. “Because our girl had to do a forty-yard dash to make the boat, Mom. The boat crew got the gangway back in place real fast though. It looked to me like those guys knew they’d be in deep trouble if they didn’t.”
    Morgan stuck her tongue out at him. “No, they did it because they’re nice young men. Oh, and because I always slip them a good tip when they cut me a break.”
    Julia’s eyes twinkled behind her wire-framed glasses. “You always were a very practical girl, Morgan.”
    “Glaring at the crew has always worked for me,” Ryan said.
    “Yeah, but I’m not some six-four, jacked hunk who looks like he was carved out of a granite cliff,” Morgan scoffed.
    Ryan’s dark brows politely arched up, while his mother’s eyes popped wide. Morgan mentally winced.
    “Ah, I hope business is getting better at the B&B,” Juliafinally said into the awkward pause. “How’s it looking for the Fourth?”
    The July Fourth celebrations in Seashell Bay brought boatloads of visitors. The B&B had always been fully booked during the holiday when her dad was in charge.
    Not this year.
    “We’ve still got some space, Mrs. Butler,” Morgan said. “We usually get some last-minute bookings, so I’m hopeful we’ll fill up.”
    “Let’s load up your stuff,” Ryan said. “You’ll need to get that beer in the fridge soon.”
    When the three of them reached the parking lot, Julia took Ryan’s duffel and headed off to her car, an ancient Jeep Cherokee even more rusted than most of the island beaters. After Morgan opened the tailgate of her dad’s red Toyota pickup, Ryan helped her get everything stowed.
    He opened the driver’s door and handed her inside. “I’ll talk to Mom about our arrangement later,” he said after she rolled down the window. “I didn’t want to spring it on her here.”
    “Sure.”
    “She’s obviously not going to be thrilled that I won’t be staying with her and Dad,” he said.
    “Well, take your time. Your room at the B&B will be ready for you whenever you want to move in. In fact, you can have a choice.” He’d be staying in the main house while her bedroom was in the attached annex. Though that wouldn’t put much distance between them, every little bit helped. “You can have the biggest one we’ve got. We usually reserve that room for families—”
    “Morgan, all I need is a bed and a closet,” Ryan interrupted, leaning on the window frame and lookingimpossibly tough and handsome. Her heart skipped a few beats just looking at him. “Big and fancy are wasted on me.”
    She laughed. “Well, none of our rooms are very big, and we definitely don’t do fancy at Golden Sunset Bed-and-Breakfast.”
    She didn’t often refer to the B&B by name because she hated “Golden