Driftwood Cottage by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

her about them. It was one of so many little ways he’d tried to take care of her.
    If she’d been keeping a ledger, the list of positives in their relationship would have covered pages, but even at that it couldn’t make up for the one huge negative—his refusal to consider marriage.
    Water under the bridge, she told herself, following him to the car.
    “What did you do last night?” she asked as they headed toward his house. “Did you spend time with your mother and father?”
    He shook his head. “Jess and I went to Brady’s for dinner. It was jammed, so we wound up sitting in the bar.”
    “Looking for singles?” she asked, knowing that the bar was often packed with the town’s available men and women on a weekend night.
    Connor shot a hard look in her direction. “Would you care if we were?”
    She thought about it. Truthfully, she absolutely hated the idea of Connor being with another woman or even looking at one, but how could she tell him that? She was the one who’d dumped him.
    “Hey, you and Jess are young, attractive professionals. You’d both be great catches.”
    “Do I detect a hint of reservation in there?” he pressed.
    She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I don’t have a right to criticize anything you choose to do, Connor. We’re not together anymore.”
    “But would it bother you if I started dating someone else right here in Chesapeake Shores?” he persisted.
    She frowned at him. “Why are you pushing this? Does your ego need me to admit I’d hate it? Okay, I’d hate it, but we’re both going to move on eventually. That’s just the way it is.”
    Now it was his turn to frown. “Are you seeing someone else?”
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said impatiently. “It’s not some sort of contest to see which of us will start dating first, Connor. I’ve barely had time to take a deep breath, much less think about meeting men. Do you have any idea how much work is involved in starting a business and keeping up with a one-year-old?”
    He looked relieved by her response, but his tone was apologetic. “I guess it would be none of my business if you were dating,” he conceded, then regarded her miserably. “How did we get here, Heather? From the day we met, I never looked at another woman. You never looked at another man. Those feelings haven’t changed, and yethere we are, making small talk and asking about each other’s social life as if we’re barely casual acquaintances. We’re trying to act as if the answers don’t matter, when we both know they do.”
    She heard the sorrow in his voice and found herself reaching over to touch his hand on the steering wheel. “We’ll always be more than casual acquaintances, Connor. We share a son, for one thing. But it’s going to take time to find our way with this new relationship. Sometimes it’s going to be awkward and messy and frustrating, but we have to find a way to make it work. I don’t want either of us to end up bitter and unable to be in the same room together.”
    He sighed. “I don’t want that, either.”
    She forced a smile. “You do know that the two of us turning up together today is going to set tongues wagging with your family, don’t you? Are you ready for that?”
    “Hey, you’re the one living here now. You’ll have to deal with the nonstop pressure and meddling more than I will. Are you up to it?”
    “I guess I’ll have to be.” Sobering, she met his gaze. “We made the right decision, Connor.”
    “You’re the one who made the decision,” he corrected, his tone suddenly edged with annoyance. “Don’t lay this on me. I was happy with the way things were.”
    “Sure, hiding me and your son from your family was working just fine for you,” she retorted sarcastically. “It meant no one except me could tell you what you were doing was wrong. And of course I couldn’t say a thing, either, because essentially I made a pact to play by your rules the day I agreed to move in with