Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) by Allie Gail Read Free Book Online Page B

sandwich. “Holy moly, this is good.”
    “They get the grouper fresh from the market. It’s local.”
    “Mm…I think I just died and went to heaven.”
    “You know, I’ve been trying to persuade Reid to hire an onsite IT person for months. I’m glad you applied. If it had been some geek that looked like me, we’d probably still be understaffed.”
    Sami’s eyebrows shot up. “What are you saying, exactly?”
    “Oh. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just meant…well, it’s no secret he has a thing for good-looking ladies.” Stuart’s face turned bright red. “I’m not implying that’s why you were hired or anything. Your qualifications were a perfect fit.”
    “Hm.” Sami watched as a young father tried to persuade a toddler in a frilly pink swimsuit to jump into the water. The inflatable floaties kept her chubby arms from reaching her sides. “Let me ask you a question. Does he have a reputation for sexually harassing his female employees?”
    “ Not that I’m aware of. I don’t think you have to worry about that - he’s very professional. He gets around, I guess you could say - I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice - but as far as I know he’s never dated anyone employed here.”
    “How very noble of him.” Never the same woman twice…that sounded about right.
    “I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to make it sound like…”
    “Don’t worry about it, Stu.” She made an attempt to change the subject. “I noticed there seems to be a family vibe around here. Will we get much of the spring break crowd?”
    “ Oh yeah - everyone does. It’s inescapable. We have extra people on security during that time though. They’re pretty good at keeping the bullshit to a minimum.”
    Sami took a sip of her Coke. “Didn’t I see something on the news not too long ago where a girl fell off a balcony or something?”
    Stuart shrugged indifferently. “Yeah. Next door at the Jade Palms. Glad it wasn’t here. Seems like there’s always one or two incidents of that every year. Usually it’s during spring break, when kids are plastered and acting a fool. This girl was by herself when it happened, but she’d been drinking so who knows. Coulda been a suicide.”
    “Hm.” The little girl finally grew brave enough to make the leap into her daddy’s arms. Her mother applauded and cheered from her deck chair. “I was kind of surprised when Ash…Mr. Reid told me he lives here.”
    “Yeah, I think he likes to surround himself with excitement. He’s kind of an adrenaline junkie.”
    “Do you live nearby?”
    “I live farther west on Laguna Beach. Actually I rent a house from Reid.”
    “My condolences,” she said automatically.
    Stuart licked some stray ketchup off the side of his hand while eyeing her through the thick lenses of his glasses. “You seem to have it in for him. Did he do something to get on your bad side?”
    “Kind of.”
    “What was it?”
    Sami leaned over to retrieve a napkin that the breeze had whisked off the table. After straightening she confided, “The first day when I was moving in he came into my room without knocking. That is, he said he knocked but I didn’t hear him. So he just let himself in.”
    “That’s it?” Stuart seemed disappointed. Apparently he’d hoped for something a little juicier. Sami wasn’t about to tell him the rest of the story. It was far too…personal. Intimate.
    Intimate. Now that was a word she didn’t want to use when referring to Asher Reid. That man was a shark in a pair of designer sunglasses.
    And she hated sharks.
    ~*~*~*~
    “Come on, Rio. You gotta eat something.”
    Eva was sprawled out on the kitchen floor beside the ornery cat, who had been pouting ever since they’d arrived at the chalet. He was not at all happy to have been uprooted from his home, and was expressing his displeasure by hissing at her irritably. She looked up at Julian, who watched their exchange with amusement. “Can’t you