Aquamarine by Catherine Mulvany Read Free Book Online Page B

spending a week in Shea’s company, he recognized the differences between the two. Both were bright and stubborn as hell, but Kirsten had been manipulative where Shea was not.
    Shea was more independent too. Kirsten had had no interest in furthering her education or doing anything beyond charity work. Shea, on the other hand, had worked her way through college and built a career in the corporate world. In
Ohio
, he reminded himself. And she wasn’t the type to abandon all her hard-earned junior-executive perks to follow a man, either. Especially not a man who was still struggling to get his own fledgling business off the ground. Teague sighed.
    There were other differences too. Kirsten had been a born flirt. She’d known all the courtship rituals by heart and practiced them religiously. By contrast, Shea didn’t play any games at all.
    And though he could tell she was attracted to him, she wasn’t the type of woman to accept a man at face value. Kirsten had been as open and trusting as a puppy, but Shea hadn’t made up her mind about him yet. Teague understood, even approved of, her wariness. Trust didn’t come easily for him, either.
    He pulled into the parking lot of the Liberty Lodge, removed his sunglasses, and tucked them above the visor.“I know the big reunion was hard on you, but seeing his ‘daughter’ again did Jack a world of good. When I spoke to him after lunch, he seemed better than he has been in weeks.”
    “That’s good,” she said to the dashboard.
    “Shea?”
    She looked at him. Her expression was neutral, but she was as aware of him as he was of her. Little things gave her away—the faint flush along her cheekbones, the increase in her respiration rate, the way she twisted her purse strap between her fingers. A strand of hair had worked loose from the ponytail at the nape of her neck. He was tempted to hook it back behind her ear. Any excuse to touch her. But he didn’t. He smiled instead.
    Shea’s color rose and she broke off eye contact. “Cynthia asked me to come back in the morning. She thought going through old pictures might help to restore the gaps in my memory.”
    “You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. Jack’s seen you now. His mind’s at rest. I can fob her off with some story. I’ll be out there tomorrow anyway. My crew and I are scheduled to start work on a new project.”
    “No, I …” She flushed. “Cynthia’s expecting me.” She met his gaze. “Tell me about your project. It’s a landscaping job, I take it?”
    “There’s an old gazebo on the promontory, used to be Kirsten’s favorite spot on the island, but the trees and shrubs have grown so tall, they’ve blocked the view. Jack got it in his head that he had to restore the spot to its former glory. He hired us to clear out brush, add some plantings, put in a brick path.”
    “So you’ll be on Massacre Island all day?”
    “Most of it. I can take you over in the morning if youwant. Or, better yet, why don’t I show you how to run an outboard? Then you can take yourself across whenever you feel like it.”
    “That makes sense.”
    A freckle-faced girl with carroty hair scooted past on a skateboard. When Shea turned to watch, Teague studied her profile: perfect nose, full lower lip, stubborn chin. He wanted to touch her. Hell, he wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss her until she was breathless and panting his name, but he didn’t have the right. She wasn’t really Kirsten. She wasn’t really his at all.
    Shea turned back to him. “When can you show me how to run the boat motor?”
    He glanced at his watch. “I have a few errands, but I can swing back by to pick you up about seven. That would give us a couple hours of daylight to mess with the boat.”
    “Sure.”
    She didn’t look sure, but she didn’t turn him down, either, which, he figured, qualified as a step in the right direction. His direction.
    With mixed feelings, Shea watched Teague’s pickup drive off. The man was