Fish Perfume (Cozy Harbor Marina Series) by Sammie Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

engine. I guess when cars sit for a while, they’re fair game to mice looking for a home. He finished pumping the gas and I gave him a five-dollar tip. I guess he earned it. Could this day get any worse?
    The grocery store, thank God, was uneventful. I drove home and put the groceries away. By this time, the sun had gone down and it was dark. I decided to take a nonchalant stroll around the marina and remove all the pictures of me in my fish guts outfit. I was hoping no one would see me.
    I walked down A dock, but all the pictures were down. As I was walking back up, Tony stepped off his boat. As usual, he looked gorgeous as ever. The man was definitely eye candy.
    He spotted me and gave me a big smile. “Hey, Meggie. I saw your picture on the piling. Very photogenic, Red Hot.”
    “Yeah, Tony, I’m a real cover girl. You’re down here late.”
    “I just stopped by to pick up my wallet. I left it on the boat. I’m just going to give my sister a ride home.”
    “Gee, that’s funny. Mo told me you were an only child.”
    He laughed and said, “See you later, Red Hot. I’m still having those visions.”
    I proceeded on my mission. Nothing on B or C docks. I had just started down D dock when a beautiful black dog came running up the dock to say hello. I could tell from the way he was wagging his tail that he had Lab written all over him. Being a dog person, I got down on my knees to greet him. He licked my face, sat, and gave me a paw. We politely shook hands. He was a sweetheart.
    I glanced up the dock and saw Ian walking toward me. My heart almost stopped. Tony was nice to look at but Ian has the power to turn me into a complete idiot. I can’t believe the effect he’s had on me. Why does he make me so nervous?
    “I see you’ve met my best friend,” he said.
    I stood up and said, “So you’re the lucky owner of this beautiful beast.”
    Ian nodded. “His name’s Sam.”
    I petted the gorgeous creature a few more times and said, “He’s beautiful. We had a black Lab female named Cassie when I was growing up. She was great at tricks. I would put a cookie on her nose and tell her to stay. She’d hold that cookie for five minutes if I wanted her to and then when I snapped my fingers, her nose would jerk up, the cookie would fly up in the air, and she’d snatch it every time. I loved that.”
    “Well, Sam knows some tricks, too. He shakes hands, does hi-fives, and gets the newspaper for me, but he doesn’t know the cookie trick. Right now we’re working on a trick where he opens the refrigerator door with a strap and brings me a beer.”
    I petted Sam and said, “I’m sure he’ll master it in no time.” I gave Sam a scratch on his ear and said to him, “Won’t you, good boy?” Then I looked up at Ian and asked, “How old is he?”
    “He just turned four. I got him when I came down here to take over the business.”
    I sighed. “I would love to get another dog, but I’ve been waiting until I get my own house. What are you doing down here so late?”
    “I needed to drop some notes off to the other guys for tomorrow. How about you?”
    “I was just looking around making sure everything was okay,” I lied.
    “I think maybe you were looking for these.”
    He gave me the papers in his hand. I took a quick look and saw they were the glamour shots of me.
    Surprised, I said, “You took them down? I’ve been going up and down the docks looking for them. That was really nice of you.” I thought, how sweet of him, and started to melt again.
    He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I figured it was the least I could do since it was my bait barrel you fell into.”
    “Thanks Ian, I was really mortified. Not a good first impression to make with the customers. Now they all know how uncoordinated I am.”
    “It probably endeared you to them, Meggie.”
    I hoped it worked a little on him, too.
    Ian cleared his throat and said, “I know it isn’t any of my business, but I saw you with Tony. I just wanted