Dancing Tides by Vickie McKeehan Read Free Book Online

g to re mo v e the w r a p.
    F or the f i r st time sin c e pulling him out of the wa t er , r e a li z a tion d aw n e d on Ke e g a n. T h e m a n h a d obvious l y done this on pu r pos e . H e h a d n ’ t g one s w imming a t a ll, the c u r r e nt h a dn ’ t ca us e d him to fa lt e r but r a th e r he h a d t r i e d to e nd his li f e b y d r o w nin g .
    Som e thing a bout th a t piss e d h e r o f f .
    W ith the d r op in a d re n a lin e , she b e g a n to shiv e r in the c old.
    B r i a n D r is c oll, De a c on ’ s p ar tn er , d r a p e d a bl a nk e t ar ound h e r shoul d er s. “ G ood job, Ke e g a n, looks like h e ’ ll be f in e , do e s n ’ t s ee m to a pp rec i a te t h a t fac t tho u g h .”
    She pu ffe d out a n a n g r y b rea th. So B r i a n h a d g ot t e n the g ist of the m a n ’ s minds e t a s we ll. I t w a s th e n she spott e d E th a n Co d y r unni n g do w n the b eac h w ith his w i fe , H a y d e n, in to w . E th a n look e d d e t er min e d a nd f u r ious a nd H a y d e n h a d t r ouble k ee pi n g up w ith his st r id e .
    E y e i n g E t h a n, the m a n o n the g r o und did his b e st to sit up a g a in, kno c ki n g Deac o n ’ s h a nd aw a y w h e n he o ff er e d it in a ssist a n ce.
    “ W h a t the h e ll h a pp e n e d ? ” E th a n b ar k e d.
    “ W h a t do e s it look lik e ? ” Co r d c hok e d out. “ I h a d too mu c h to d r ink. I w e nt f or a s w im a nd e nd e d up g oi n g out a little too far . T h a t ’ s it.”
    Ke e g a n p u r s e d h e r lips to g e t h e r t r y i n g to d ec i d e w h a t to s a y . Should she r a t the g u y out? W h a t if n e x t t ime no one wa s ar ound to s a v e his a s s ? W h a t if n e x t time he t ook som e one w ith hi m ? She didn ’ t n ee d thi s , didn ’ t n ee d the a gg ra v a t ion. She h a d w o r k still to do, a s e a lion pup to f ind. I f the m a n didn ’ t w a nt to liv e — w h a t the h e ll did she ca r e?
    She wa t c h e d a s D e ac on a nd B r i a n st a r t e d p a c king up th e ir e quipm e nt. Ne i t h e r m a n s a id a w o r d. B ut a ll of a sudd e n Ke e g a n c ouldn ’ t l e t this g o. “ B ullshit,” K ee g a n mutt e re d, st ar i n g st ra i g ht i n to Co r d ’ s g old - f l ec k e d b r o w n e y e s. “ I wa t c h e d y ou f r om the b o a t. I wa t c h e d a s y ou w a lk e d out into the tid e . A t f i r st th a t ’ s w h a t I thou g ht y ou w e r e doi n g , th a t y ou w er e just in the mood f or a s w im d e spite the fac t y ou look e d out of it. B ut y ou didn ’ t e v e n t r y to s w im, not on ce . A nd w h y do n ’ t y ou g o a h ea d a nd t e ll E th a n a bout th a t g un y ou ’ r e ca rr y i n g in y our p o c k e t.”
    Sh e’ d fe lt th a t, too, w h e n sh e’ d g ott e n him onto the b e a c h.
    Co r d put his h a nds out on the r o c k y g r a v e l a nd st r ug g l e d to g e t to his f e e t. B ut in the midst of st a ndin g , he st o pp e d d ea d still. His e y e s l a nd e d on the mout h y r e dh ea d.
    A s if h e’ d just noti ce d t h e g od d e ss f or the v e r y f i r st tim e , he blink e d a nd su c k e d in a r a g g e d b r ea th. J e sus. L o n g , st ra i g ht, w e t t re ss e s s k imm e d do w n to h e r should er s a nd c lu n g to the crea m y skin a lo n g h e r n e c k. T he d a mp lo c ks c u r v e d so f t l y ar ound a c l a ssic n arr ow fa c e topp e d w ith s a u cer- si z e d, st r iki n g c o b a lt e y e s. A c ut e , p a t r i c i a n nose tu r n e d up sl i ght l y a t the e nd.
    De spite the f a c t she wa s piss e d, she look e d like his id e a of w h a t a m er m a id mi g ht look like if su c h thin g s e x ist e d. A tt rac tion h a d his b e l l y ti g ht e ni n g .
    L ust a side tho u g h, Co r d c u r s e d und e r his b r e a th a nd th re w a look of disd a i n a t the d re n c h e d w om a n b e f o r e f in a l l y tu r ni n g to f a c e E t h a n— a nd li e d th r o u g h