No Reservations (Special Ops: Tribute Book 1) by Kate Aster Read Free Book Online Page A

I think Becca will like,
too. I didn’t see the inside, but I’ll call the number on the sign and see if I
can get a tour. Looks like a basement apartment. It’s small, but maybe big
enough for two. But the catch is, it’s got a backyard. She’d love that and I really
didn’t think I’d find that in a rental.”
    Bridget pressed her lips together tightly. There was an
awkward silence between the two of them, and Maddox couldn’t fathom why.
    “That’s great,” she finally said.
    “So, why did you decide to take over this place? You could
have sold it. I’ll bet in this part of town, real estate is pretty hot.”
    “That’s what my parents were hoping I’d do with it. But I
just love the idea of running this inn. From the first moment I walked in here,
it’s like I could just feel the history of this old place. And I’ve always
loved Annapolis. I thought it would be so refreshing to show off this town for
a living.”
    “Your aunt must have cared a lot for you to leave you this
place.”
    “Actually, she always kind of kept her distance from me. I
never even met her until I started going to college here.”
    “Really?”
    “I think there’s some bad blood between my parents and her
or something. But when I went to college here, I reached out to her a bit. Really
ticked my parents off. I’d come to her inn for coffee a lot and then when I was
dating a guy pretty seriously my senior year, she had us over for dinner
several times. That’s kind of how I fell in love with this place. Just seeing
all the guests come and go. People are so happy when they’re on vacation. Total
opposite mood from when they’re talking to a lawyer.”
    He chuckled as she scooped some crab mixture into another omelet.
    “But then she never even came to my graduation, and never
saw me again after. She’d send Christmas cards and I’d call her sometimes, see
if she was up for coffee. I was only in DC for law school. I would have loved
the excuse to come to Annapolis. She was always busy.” Bridget shrugged. “I was
pretty surprised that she left the inn to me. But she never married or had
kids. So she didn’t have a lot of people she could have left it to, I guess.”
    “How’d she die?”
    “Car wreck. There was a pretty bad storm this past winter
and it iced up the roads. Head-on collision.”
    “Jesus. I’m so sorry.” He wanted to stand to reach for her,
but she turned her back, folding over another omelet just the way he’d taught
her.
    “Yeah. It still hits me sometimes. It’s weird. I know we
weren’t close. But there was—I don’t know—something between us. Maybe
it’s just that we shared the crazy gene that makes a person want to run a B
& B in a town already bursting with B & Bs.” She raised her eyebrows at
him. “My parents hate the idea of me quitting a reliable career to do this.”
    “It’s a tough economy to be opening a business,” he admitted.
    “But you’re doing it,” she pointed out.
    “Yeah. Feels kind of like I’m in the middle of an identity
crisis, though. Going from SEAL to the ice cream man.” He shook his head.
    She slid the newest omelet onto a plate and the crab oozed
out temptingly, making Maddox wish he had run a couple more miles this morning.
    “So, did I pass Omelet 101, Professor?”
    “With flying colors. Looks perfect.”
    “Looks can be deceiving. Eat up, if you dare.” Nudging aside
his other plate, she set it in front of him.
    “Don’t you want this one?”
    “No.” She settled her hand on her stomach. “Truth be known,
I ate about a quarter pound of that crab before it even made it into the mixing
bowl. I have a weakness for Maryland Blue Crab.”
    Another thing we have in common , Maddox noted. Seeing as he’d already
eaten half of the other omelet and four pieces of bacon, he should really fight
her on this. But the crab was seeping out of the omelet, beckoning him. And
besides, she really needed an opinion.
    Well, so long as it was for her. He