Half Moon Harbor by Donna Kauffman Read Free Book Online

can clean up where I’m staying. I’ll, uh, just get the two of us out of your, um—”
    She really shouldn’t be stuttering and stammering. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen man parts before, although perhaps none so, generously—um, proportioned. And certainly not from her current vantage point. Exactly. Jeez, just get on with it already. “Contact the county offices and they can go over everything. I assure you my paperwork is all in order and, if necessary, we can always—”
    â€œTalk right here, right now,” he finished for her. “As you were there, and you’ve got the papers, you can go over them with me. Then we’ll call whoever we must and get this whole thing put to rights.”
    â€œThere’s no rights to put things into,” she said, then grimaced at the twisted wording. “What I mean is, there’s nothing that needs fixing. I was merely saying that if you need further proof, or you want to find out why they handled things the way they did, that’s the direction to take. You really don’t need me for that, and it’s possible you’ll be thankful I’m not there.”
    â€œMeaning?”
    She might have glanced up. Again. She really had to stop that. And he really had to move. Or she did. To that end, she turned on the stairs, keeping a death grip on the twisted iron railing as she wasn’t entirely certain her knees wouldn’t betray her sudden, overly avid interest in his genetic, um . . . prowess.
    â€œMeaning you didn’t look too happy to find out that neither Sue Clemmons nor Cami saw fit to let you know what was going on with the property. Property you clearly thought was under your control. So maybe it’s best if you handle that privately, that’s all. It’s your personal business, not mine.”
    â€œCami Weathersby?”
    Grace paused and turned back, relieved to see he’d moved closer to the railing, which pressed the towel against his legs, and formed a merciful barrier between her gaze and his— seriously, can’t you think about anything other than that ? “Uh, yes, Cami Weathersby. Why? Do you know her?”
    His smile faded and his expression darkened in a way it hadn’t before. She was surprised by how much it changed him. She’d already imagined he woke up smiling, then just went about being charming perfection the rest of the day, leaving a long line of lusting, desirous women in his wake.
    â€œAye, indeed I do.” The darker edge, she realized, was anger. He’d been shocked before, insulted, hurt even, then annoyed and dismissive. But if she wasn’t mistaken, he was well and truly pissed.
    Frowning, she asked, “Is there something about her I should know?”
    â€œNo, but perhaps ye’ve a point and we should meet at a later time.”
    For the first time, a trickle of unease slid down her spine. “Why is that?”
    â€œYou were right about it being personal business. I need to make a few calls.”
    The trickle became a steady stream. She had no idea what Brodie might be able to accomplish with a few phone calls and she didn’t want to find out. The main problem with being the newest addition to the Blueberry Cove citizen roster was that she had no real contacts beyond those who had helped her achieve the first step in her dream. Worse, she had no knowledge of anyone’s background or interpersonal history, not even the few she’d dealt with personally.
    Grace gave in. “You know, on second thought, I can barely stand the smell of myself, and I don’t need to stink up my car. Why don’t I take you up on that offer to rinse off, and then we can head to the county offices together.” There was the little matter of her needing to get a change of clothes in there somewhere, but one step at a time.
    He looked like he was going to nix the idea and go his own way. He definitely wanted to, she