Desire After Dark: A Gansett Island Novel by Marie Force Read Free Book Online Page B

when a nurse came through the doors.
    “Mr. Harris? You can come on back.”
    Luke bolted for the doors.
    Slim watched him go, hoping and praying he’d get good news on the other side. While he waited to hear more, he sent a text to Erin.
    At the ER with Luke and Syd . Waiting to hear what’s upbefore I head back. Do you miss me yet?
    She replied right away: Who is this?
    Ha-ha. You’re very funny!
    Hoping for good news for Syd. It’s nice of you to wait with them.
    Luke is losing it. I’m glad I came.
    Did they say what’s wrong?
    Not really, and I didn’t want to ask. I’ll give it another hour or so and see if they need a ride home.
    No problem.My other boyfriend is here entertaining me while you’re gone.
    So wait, I’m your boyfriend?
    No, the other one is. You’re my fling.
    You’re so going to pay for that when I get back.
    I’m very scared…
    I’ll give you a heads-up when I’m on the way back so you can get the BF out.
    That’s very sporting of you. See you soon! Be careful in that tin can you fly aroundin.
    Sweetheart, I’m an ace in that tin can. You ought to let me show you sometime.
    Slim chuckled with amusement at her witty retorts. He’d become addicted to their conversations over the last couple of months, mostly because of her delightful sense of humor. She made him laugh more than any other woman ever had, but it hadn’t escaped his notice that she didn’t seem to have any desireto take off with him to Florida or Anguilla, or anywhere else for that matter. In the time they had left together, he’d have to see if he could get her to talk to him about why she didn’t want to spend more time with him.
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    Y ou ought to let me show you sometime…
    Ugh . Erin stared at the text on her screen. If she let this relationship with him continue on the current path, eventuallyshe’d have to tell him how she felt about flying. Talking about it with Jenny earlier had been hard enough. She didn’t want to consider how hard it would be to tell him.
    The conversation with Jenny kept cycling through her mind as she waded through her overflowing email in-box, looking for fresh ideas for the Ask Erin column she wrote for a Philadelphia newspaper. The column was on hiatusfor the holidays, but with the afternoon suddenly free, she’d decided to try to get a jump on some material for the new year.
    She’d initially been hired to write high-profile obituaries and other death notices for the paper—and hadn’t that been a good time? She’d stumbled into the writing of the column, filling in for someone who was on maternity leave. The original columnist had chosennot to return to work, and Erin was offered the column full time. When she had the chance to move to Gansett, she’d arranged to continue writing the column remotely. So far it was working out well, and the change in scenery had been good for her. Not to mention the amazing new friends she’d made since moving to Gansett.
    It was nice to live close to Jenny, too. Having her nearby was likebeing with family, and Erin couldn’t wait for when Jenny and Alex started a family so she could dote on their kids. She tried not to think too much about the children her brother and Jenny might’ve had together. Toby and Jenny had wanted to be young parents, so their children would have been approaching high school age by now.
    Erin couldn’t think about that, or she’d send herself spiraling.It had happened far too often for her not to recognize the signs. She’d gotten through Jenny’s wedding in the fall, in large part thanks to Slim’s support, and she’d find a way to deal with the emotional wallop that the eventual birth of Jenny’s first child was sure to bring. Erin had no doubt she would be treated as a beloved aunt to Jenny’s children, but she was painfully aware that they wouldn’tactually be her nieces and nephews.
    “Enough of that,” she said out loud, as if saying the words would steer her thoughts away from the perilous path