Calamity Mom by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online

fingers around her own. “I have a sailboat,” he remarked. “I love sailing.”
    “Oh.”
    “And you don’t like the sea,” he murmured dryly.
    “My stomach doesn’t like the sea,” she corrected.
    He searched her soft eyes and she didn’t look away. Currents of electricity seemed to run into her body from the intensity of that stare, until her breathing changed and her heartbeat doubled. He still had her hand in his and unexpectedly, he brought the soft palm up to his lips and pressed them hard into its moist warmth.
    She felt the color run into her face. “I, uh, really have to go.” She laughed nervously and extracted her hand from his.
    He smiled at her, without rancor or mockery. “Thanks for taking care of Ben.”
    “He sort of took care of me,” she replied. Her eyes searched his, and there was a little fear in them.
    His smile was indulgent, faintly surprised. “It’s all right,” he said softly, his voice deeper than ever, his eyes narrowed and intent.
    She gnawed on her lower lip, understanding his response in her subconscious even if it sounded odd to her conscious mind. She turned away. “See you, Ben!”
    “Sure. Thanks!”
    She almost ran the length of the pier. She dated, and boys liked her. But she’d never liked them. Now, in the space of a few days, a man who thought she was much too young for him had blazed a path to her most secret self, and she didn’t know how to chase him out again. There were plenty of reasons she should keep her distance from him, and she wanted to. But Ben was making it impossible.
    She walked into the motel, almost colliding with a very irritated Marie Dumaris.
    “You again,” the older woman said curtly. “Stay away from Faulkner. I don’t know what you think he’d see in a ragamuffin like you, but I don’t like the way you’ve attached yourself to him and Ben.”
    The attack was staggering. Shelly stared at her blankly. “I beg your pardon?”
    “If you don’t leave Faulkner alone, I’ll make you sorry. Mypeople are well-to-do and I have influence. I can have you kicked out of school if I feel like it.” She smiled haughtily at Shelly’s expression. “Faulkner told me that you go to Thorn College. So watch your step. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
    Shelly looked her in the eye, and she didn’t smile. “Neither do you,” she said with quiet dignity.
    Marie started to say something else, but Shelly turned and kept walking. She couldn’t imagine why Marie would warn her away from Faulkner, who wasn’t interested in her that way at all. Besides, she was only going to be here for four more days. That was hardly enough time to capture a man’s heart. She overlooked the fact that hers was slowly being chained already….
    * * *
    T HAT EVENING, AFTER THEY ’ D eaten fish and chips, she and Nan were startled by a knock at the door.
    Shelly went to open the door and found Faulkner. He smiled gently at her surprise. She was still wearing her jeans and pink blouse, but he’d changed into white slacks and a patterned shirt.
    “Do you like Latin music?” he asked.
    She was flustered, and looked it. “Yes.”
    “Come on. There’s a live band down the way. Nan?” he added, looking past Shelly. “Want to come with us?”
    “I’d love to, but there’s a PBS special on about a dig in Egypt,” Nan said apologetically. “I love classical archaeology.”
    “Indulge yourself, you stick-in-the-mud,” Shelly grumbled.
    “I will. Have fun!”
    Faulkner waited while Shelly tied a pink knit sweater loosely around her neck in case it got cooler, and found her purse.
    She waited until they were in the elevator headed down to the ground floor before she spoke. “Isn’t this sudden?” she queried. “And where’s Ben?”
    “He’s staying with some friends of mine for a few hours.”
    She lifted both eyebrows.
    He chuckled. “You know how I feel about May-December relationships. I’ve already said so. I don’t have anything