Finding Bliss by Dina Silver Read Free Book Online

things if he doesn’t stay focused. The draft is next year, and there’s a lot riding on his commitment to the team this fall. It’s all so vereh exciting for him,” she went on. “ We don’t want to see him get distracted,” she cautioned me, lashes fluttering.
    Maybe she needed to put her glasses back on. Did she think Sadie was seated across from her? No, there was no way to mistake that Lite-Brite head for anyone else. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, causing the wicker to crackle and calling attention to the awkward silence. Best to ride the wave of denial, I thought. “Oh my gosh, no, Mrs. Reed, it’s not like that between Tyler and me,” I said, waving my hands like I was swatting away fruit flies. And it wasn’t. Maybe if she actually knew how cruel he’d been to me, she’d be acting a little more sympathetic rather than staring at me like I’d taken a blowtorch to her needlepoint bag. “I’m so sorry if you got that impression.”
    “I know we both want what’s best for Tyler,” she said, eyebrows raised.
    I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Indeed,” I answered.
    She smiled. I think.
    After a few seconds, I realized she’d said her piece and was dismissing me. I pressed my palms together. “Thanks again for everything. The kids and I had a lot of fun tonight.”
    “Good night, dear,” she said in a cryptically cheerful tone as I stood up and walked away.

CHAPTER SIX
    I was shaking when I got to my room. I shut the door and slid to the floor with my back against it. Only a few days left. I clasped my hands behind my head and massaged the back of my neck while I replayed the events of the evening in my mind. Mrs. Reed had just chastised me for distracting her son, when all the while Tyler was the one ambushing me and derailing my focus. I wished I wasn’t so desperate to know what he wanted to say to me, but I was. His eyes were all over me at dinner, and based on my little chat with Mrs. Reed just then, I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Every time I looked up from my plate, I could feel his eyes on me. However, I’d only dared to meet his gaze twice.
    I shook off my conversation with his mother and tried to regain my composure. It was not my responsibility to defend myself to her. I’d done nothing but take exceptional care of her children that summer while she played golf and took mint-julep-induced naps every afternoon. I put my pajamas on and got into bed. As soon as I leaned back, I heard the sound of paper crinkling beneath my pillow. I sat up, lifted the pillow, and found a piece of notebook paper folded in half.
    Meet me at the lake at midnight.
    A shiver shot through me and landed in my stomach. I ran my finger over the words he’d scribbled in blue ballpoint pen and then looked at the clock. A quarter to eleven.
    I smiled and studied the note for a few seconds longer; then I folded it back up and placed it at the bottom of my duffel bag near the closet.
    I rolled my eyes and sighed. I’d already let Tyler inside my head farther than he deserved. Was I willing to do it again? I was trying to be content with the memories of the couple nights we’d shared together. A simple summer fling that flared up and then died out just as quickly. Big deal, so I didn’t get the guy. I had more important things to think about, including managing my own expectations. He wasn’t the only one who didn’t need any distractions.
    I got back into bed and wrapped myself beneath the white sheets. Everything in the room was white down to the digital clock, which played mind games with me every time the illuminated numbers changed.
    Eleven o’clock. Goddamn it. Would he be waiting down there for me? I hated to be rude and ignore him. Not that I owed him any sort of courtesy given his behavior.
    Eleven fifteen. I should be the bigger person and just go down there and tell him to “focus” his attention elsewhere . Yawn.
    Eleven thirty. I hated to leave him wondering if I was going to