Can't Buy My Love by Shelli Stevens Read Free Book Online Page A

night, Jessie.”
    My lips tipped into a contented smile. “G’night, Josh.”

Chapter Eight
    The sound of a foghorn out on the ocean woke me. I sat up in bed and glanced toward the patio—we’d never shut the door last night. After a quick look down at Josh, I smiled. Snoring, one hand thrown above his head…he was still out for the count.
    I slid out of bed, rubbing my arms as I went to close the door. One glance outside showed me that the fog had blown in, and with it, a drop in temperature.
    I closed and locked the door, then considered my options. Being a morning person, I was wide-awake, and Lord knew how long Josh would stay asleep. Maybe I’d make breakfast, seeing as I never got around to making that pie yesterday.
    After quickly throwing on some clothes, I went to the kitchen to find out what options he had in his fridge. Hmm, not much , I realized a minute later. Steak, beer, milk, and a container full of potato salad.
    Biting my lip, I shook my head. This wouldn’t do. I wanted to make him a big, fantastic breakfast, or attempt to since I was a pretty shitty cook. But I wanted to give him his money’s worth.
    The grocery store was just a couple of blocks away. I could walk down and pick up some bacon and eggs. And coffee. How could he not have coffee in the house? I grabbed his jacket off the wall, slipped on my sandals, and headed out the front door, leaving it unlocked behind me.
    Even with the fog it was a nice morning. There was a light breeze that carried the salty smell of the ocean and the hint of moisture in the air.
    It was quiet, with most people probably still inside sleeping or having breakfast. I hadn’t checked the time, but I guessed it was somewhere around ten.
    I reached the grocery store and found it nearly deserted. When I arrived in the dairy aisle, I saw her. My Grams and her newest lover, I was guessing, seeing how he pinched her bottom while she reached into the fridge section to grab some milk.
    Okay, it was kind of sweet. Grams giggled and shot him a reprimanding look, then spotted me behind him.
    “Jessica!” She shoved the milk at her beau and made her way toward me. “Sweetheart, how are you? Are you enjoying yourself with Joshua?”
    “I’m fine.” I felt the heat of a blush steal up my cheeks. “We’re having a good time.”
    “Oh, that’s so wonderful! I knew when I first saw him that he’d bid on you if I asked. So tell me, have you—”
    “You asked him to bid on me?” The heat in my cheeks drained away, and my lips felt suddenly numb.
    “I ran into him early Friday morning and told him he should come by and get the bidding started on you. I recognized him right away even though it’s been years since he’s been here,” she went on breezily. “Although he looks quite scandalous now with those tattoos and those round things in his ears.”
    Josh had been asked to bid on me? I wanted to throw the carton of eggs on the ground. Or better yet at him. What had he said when I’d asked why he’d paid all that money for me? Because you deserved that much.
    Horse shit!
    “But you’d better hurry up and sleep with him if you intend to.” She poked me in the side with her cane and gave a wide grin, oblivious to my anger. “Seeing as he’s going to be gone soon.”
    “Gone?” Did Grams know something I didn’t?
    “Well, yes, hasn’t he told you? He only came back to put the house up for sale and meet with the people who want to buy Fisherman’s Feast.”
    “He’s selling…” It was almost hard to breathe. Confusion and anger warred in my heart to be top emotion.
    “Yes, apparently some fast food seafood chain offered to buy it from him. I heard the money’s amazing.”
    The thought curdled in my belly. After all we’d talked about last night? The ideas we’d shared about the restaurant? And he was thinking of selling it? To a fast food chain? The thought of the charming mom and pop restaurant being replaced with a mass of neon and hard plastic