Laugh Like You've Never Cried (Summer Lake 5) by SJ McCoy Read Free Book Online Page A

best.”
    She couldn't stop giggling as she took the plate from him. “Promises, promises.” It was something Kenzie said all the time, and it seemed quite appropriate.
    He grinned at her. “And you'd better believe I'm a man of my word, Meggie.”
    She stopped laughing. He was still calling her that?
    He shook his head at her. “You said Megan is no fun. You're starting to relax and you are fun, so you must be my Meggie.”
    Oh, my goodness! His Meggie? Now, that could be fun!
    He was still smiling. “You know this is the first time I've heard you laugh.”
    “I only met you last night.”
    “I know, but I normally get people laughing within the first few minutes.” He shrugged. “Intentionally or not.”
    Megan knew it was always intentional. He was fun, funny, and he probably wouldn't understand, but she wanted him to. “Fun wasn't really allowed in our house when we were growing up. And when you've done a lot of crying it can be hard to remember to how to laugh.” Oh, that sounded miserable! She took a peek at him. She wasn't looking for sympathy. She'd hate that. She just wanted him to understand. How did his smile always look so encouraging? “I'm sorry. That wasn't a fun thing to say, was it?”
    “No, it was better than fun. It was honest. Want to tell me some more?”
    She shook her head. She really didn't. He looked disappointed, so she said, “Another time, maybe.”
    “Great.” The dimple was back as he grinned. “Another time it is. How about tomorrow?”
    “You're sure you want to do this again?” She was starting to believe that he really did like her, though why, she had no idea.
    His eyes were shining with mischief. “Maybe not exactly this, but something, yeah. We're just getting started, darl'. Here, have some more of my sausage.”
    That made her laugh. It felt good to laugh with him.
    His face grew serious as he watched her. “Can I tell you one thing I've learned though?”
    “What's that?”
    “You've got to laugh like you've never cried, Meggie.”
    She shook her head. That was easy for him to say. He'd probably never had reason to cry. She'd like to believe he was right, but she wasn't sure it was possible.
    “But let's leave that for another day too, huh? For now, how about I just get back to charming you with my wit and dazzling good looks?”
    She laughed. “Go on then. Since you're doing such a good job of it.”
    ***
    M ichael smiled to himself and finished off his beer. After the server had cleared their plates, Megan had seemed nervous again and excused herself to the bathroom. She'd relaxed while they'd eaten and told him a little bit about herself. He ran over what he'd learned while he waited for her to return. She had a sister, whom she seemed to adore, who had recently moved to Nashville. She loved her work. It seemed that it was the kids she loved most, though. She'd been shocked to realize that Ethan was his boy. He hadn't made the connection before, but now he knew she must be the “cool lady at the library” who had been working on databases with Ethan and Scot.
    She was so unsure of herself, he wanted to know why. She'd talked about never having had much fun, even in high school. She was obviously bright, incredibly attractive, despite her attempts to look otherwise, and she had a witty side to her—when she dared show it. He grinned, or when she inadvertently let it slip out, as she did quite often. He'd loved that naughty, guilty little smile she'd had when she'd talked about sharing his sausage. He'd also loved how shamefaced she'd looked when she realized that she'd actually said it.
    She'd thought he might want to go home earlier because she wasn't fun enough. She had no idea how badly he didn't want to go home at all tonight, so he could find out just how much fun they could have together. He wasn't going to go anywhere near that, though. Not yet. The way she'd opened up to him tonight was better than he'd hoped for, but he knew he'd have to take it