Dancing Tides by Vickie McKeehan Read Free Book Online Page A

h i s t ee th. “ I b r o u g ht the g un w ith me f o r p r ot ec ti o n. I t ’ s just a little ol’ .22, E th a n. Y ou know how r o w d y M c C rea d y ’ s ca n g e t on F r id a y n i g hts. I wa nt e d to be p re p a re d.”
    E th a n ’ s e y e s n arr o w e d to slits. R ea li z ing h e’ d b e e n su c k ere d not thi r t y minut e s ear li er , E th a n h a d h e a r d e no u g h. H e qui c k l y tu r n e d Co r d a r ound a nd c u f fe d his h a n ds b e hind his b ac k. H e p a tt e d him do w n, re t r i e v e d the .22 fr om his w e t p a nts po c k e t.
    “ P re p a r e d f or w h a t e x ac tl y ? W e ll, p re p ar e f or this,” E th a n st a t e d e mp h a ti c a l l y . “ I ’ m t a king y ou into c usto d y f or a w e a pons viol a tion a nd th e n rec omm e ndi n g t o the jud g e y ou g e t a p s y c h e v a lu a tion a s soon a s possibl e .” T o m a ke a point, he st ar t e d r e a ding Co r d his Mi ra nda r i g hts.
    “Y ou a r e n ’ t s er ious? W h o w ill N i c k g e t to milk the c o w s in the mo r ni n g , d o a ll m y c ho re s a nd stu f f ? S i l a s a nd S a m m y h a d a we ddi n g to g o to this wee k e nd, d r a gg e d th e ir c ousins M ar t y a nd B e n a lo n g w i t h th e m to V is a li a . E v e n thou g h the Mill e r b o y is d oing the e v e ni n g milking do e sn ’ t m ea n h e ’ ll sti c k ar ound f or lo n g t oni g ht. T h a t l ea v e s N i c k sho r th a nd e d.”
    “Yea h? W e ll, y ou shoul d a thou g ht of th a t b ef o r e y ou b r ou g ht a g un w ith y o u to t a ke a wa lk o f f the pi e r .”
    D is g ust e d, E th a n h a ul e d Co r d up the b eac h, t r u d g i ng th r o u g h s a nd t h e e nti r e w a y . “ Da mn it, Co r d, not on l y do I h a ve to sp e nd the re st of t h e e v e ni n g a w a y f r om H a y d e n on a F r id a y n i g ht, but I ’ ll be mi r e d do w n w ith f illing out p a p erw o r k, y our p a p e r w o r k f o r the r e st of the d a mn e d e v e ni n g . Y ou know how I hate a dminist ra tive shit, e sp ec i a l l y w h e n I c ould be snug g l e d up to m y w i f e of th r e e w e e ks m a k i ng out on the c o u c h.”
    H e tu r n e d to H a y d e n. “ S o r r y . L ooks like Co r d put a d e nt in our movie pl a n s.”
    Co r d wa t c h e d a s n ew l y w e d H a y d e n Co d y l e a n e d ov e r a nd w hisp e re d som e thing in h e r husb a nd ’ s e a r . T he simple g e stu r e t u g g e d a t his h e ar tst r in g s. N o w he f e lt g u il t y f or b e i n g the o n e to m e ss up thin g s b e t we e n a p a ir of n ew l y we ds.
    Co r d c onsid ere d his p r e d i ca m e nt. “Y ou ’ r e ac tu a l l y lo c ki n g me up ? ”
    E th a n nodd e d. “Y ou b e t I a m.” H e t u r n e d to pl a nt a kiss on his w i fe’ s c h ee k. “D on ’ t st ar t Clash of the Titans u n til I g e t b ac k, o k a y ? ” W ith t h a t, E th a n shov e d Co r d i n the b ac k a nd h ea d e d up the st e ps to the w h ar f a bov e .
    H a y d e n hu n g b a c k to stu d y K e e g a n a nd r e a li z e d the w om a n must be f r ee z in g . “ Come on. L e t ’ s g e t y ou out of those we t c loth e s. Y ou o k a y ? ” “ I ’ m f in e . S e r v e s me r i g h t thou g h f or g e tting invo l v e d in this w hole m e ss w h e n I should ’ ve just l e t the p a r a m e di c s h a ndle it a nd m i nd m y o w n busin e ss. I ’ v e g ot a n inju re d b a b y s e a lion to f ind.”
    H a y d e n put h e r ar m a r o u nd Ke e g a n. “T on i g ht? We ll, kno w ing y ou, y ou ’ ll f ind it. B ut y o u n e e d d r y c loth e s. Co r d is in a b a d pl a c e r i g ht no w , Ke e g a n. Y ou did the r i g ht thi n g .”
    “ I kno w , but the w a y he l ook e d a t me th a t m a n h a t e s m e .”
    “O h, K ee g a n, Co r d do e s n ’ t h a te y ou n e a r l y a s m u c h a s he h a t e s hims e lf r i ght no w .”
    “ W h a t ’ s his d ea l a n y w a y , oth e r th a n the w hole ‘ d r inkin