All Shook Up by Susan Andersen Read Free Book Online Page A

is the family dock.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You obviously missed the ‘Private’ sign.”
    Yeah, he’d been too busy admiring her butt. Jerking his attention back to the matter at hand, he said with some disgust, “You let kids swim from the same dock where you’ve got boats taking off?”
    She’d turned back to keep an eye on Tate as he swam the last few feet to the dock, and J.D. couldn’t prevent himself from checking her out one last time. His gaze had cruised midway down the long length of her legs when she shot him an annoyed glance over her shoulder and said, “You know, for someone who’s not even been here a full day, you sure seem to have a lot of problems with the way we run our business. It’s a wonder we ever managed to limp along without you.”
    He took a step forward. “Excuse the hell outta me. It doesn’t take a mental wizard to know that jet boats and swimmers are a tragedy waiting to happen.”
    “Which is exactly why every day, from seven in the morning until seven at night, the swimming area is blocked off with ropes and fluorescent floats, from the dock to the nearest corner of the raft, and from the raft’s other corner to that tree sticking out over the water.The morning lifeguard strings it out and the afternoon lifeguard brings it back in. Had you looked a little more closely, you would have seen that the ropes and floats are stored in the rowboat at the end of the dock.” Ignoring him, she leaned down to extend a hand to her son. “Hey, Tate! I think you broke your record.”
    J.D. watched as the kid clambered up on the dock and shook off like a wet dog, flashing his big grin. “I think so, too. Hi, Mr. Carver.”
    “J.D.,” he corrected him.
    The kid’s grin did the impossible and grew even brighter. “Hey, J.D. You gonna go swimming? Where’s your suit—you got it on under your jeans? Or are you plannin’ to skinny-dip?”
    “You’re such a Nosey Parker!” The smile Dru bestowed on her son nearly matched his for sheer wattage. Wrapping a big towel around Tate’s shoulders, she curved herself against his back and hugged him to her front. “You writing a book or something?”
    “Yeah, kiss my bum, and we’ll call it a love story!” Tate flashed her a smile both cheeky and wary over his shoulder, clearly pleased with his own daring but unsure how it would be received.
    Dru gave his head a tough noogie. “Tate Lawrence! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Then she laughed, spun him around, and planted a swift kiss on his lips.
    “Mom!” He swiped the kiss away. “Jeez, not in front of J.D.!”
    “Pffft. J.D.’s been kissed by his mother. C’mon, gimme a smooch. Give in to the dark side, Luke.”
    Tate laughed and skipped away. “No way! And I’m not Luke Skywalker, Mom; I’m Anakin.”
    “Oh, well, pardon me. I lost my head there for a moment.”
    J.D. couldn’t remember his mother ever horsing around with him, and he could count on one hand the number of kisses she’d bestowed on him. Watching Dru and her kid, he felt his gut knot up. He had a sudden urge to get the hell out of there.
    The dock creaked just as he turned to go and he looked up to see Ben approaching. The older man smiled easily. “Hey,” he said. “You all come on up to the house. Soph’s made crème brûlée, and you know what will happen if she has to eat it all by herself.”
    Dru was very happy to see her uncle. He was exactly what the doctor ordered—an added barrier between herself and the heart-pounding, sweaty-palm feelings J.D. Carver generated in her without even trying.
    Picking up the towel Tate had dropped, she wrapped it with studied casualness around her hips to cover up her butt, which she’d always regarded as too big. Being half naked in front of a fully dressed male was a tough way to feel on top of one’s form, especially when one was on the plump side and the man in question didn’t have a superfluous ounce of fat on his entire body.
    She was