No Sunshine When She's Gone by Kate Angell Read Free Book Online

tight.
    “I’m going . . .” Still he stayed.
    She decided to move if he wouldn’t. She turned on him. Her gaze hit him square in the chest and she was forced to look up. “You have people to see,” she prompted.
    He stared down on her; his eyes were shielded by the bill of his baseball cap. “I’ll get to them. The market’s open all afternoon.”
    What to do? Jill debated. There was no point standing there, checking out the width of his shoulders, the thickness of his chest. The flatness of his abdomen. The long length of his legs. She had the wild urge to touch him. To feel his muscles beneath her palms. She clenched her fingers instead; kept her hands to herself.
    Where the heck was Carrie? she wondered. Her friend loved to chat on the phone. She would be Shaye’s new best friend before their conversation ended. “I have someone to find,” she said, rising on tiptoe and scanning the crowd.
    “Male or female?” Aidan asked.
    “Does it matter?” She took a sip of her coffee, playing it cool.
    He shrugged. “I’m tall and can see over the crowd. If you describe—”
    “I don’t need your help.” She hadn’t meant to sound rude, but having him so near unnerved her. She’d locate Carrie on her own. “Excuse me,” she said, easing around him.
    “Wait,” he said.
    Now what?
    He stooped down, picked something off the ground, and stood again. He held out his hand to her, and six brown beads rolled across his palm. “You might want these,” he said.
    She couldn’t believe he’d returned her beads. She opened her bag and watched as he dropped them inside, one by one. “Thank you,” she managed.
    “There’s a shoe repair on Gulfwing Drive,” he told her. “Two streets off the main drag. I have my work boots repaired there. The soles wear out before the leather.” His smile was slight. “No man discards broken-in boots.”
    She liked his way of thinking. He hadn’t told her to toss her sandals and buy a new pair. Instead he’d given her directions to get them fixed. His suggestion set well with her. She’d locate the shoe repair shop tomorrow.
    “’Bye, Aidan.” She bumped his hip as she eased around him. His masculine heat branded her.
    “I still don’t know your name,” he pressed.
    “I’ll tell you next time we meet.”
    “Our paths might not cross again.”
    “I’m betting they will,” she said. “I’ve seen you twice in one day. The odds are good.”
    He appeared hesitant, but let her pass.
    She went in the direction she’d last seen Carrie. Hurrying down the aisle, she cut around a corner stall piled with corn. She happened to glance back, hoping Aidan had moved on. He had not. He stood right where she’d left him. His gaze was on her, sharp and assessing. She’d never seen anyone look so serious. What was he thinking? Perhaps she was better off not knowing.
    The man made her body tingle. Goose bumps rose over her breasts and skimmed her inner thighs. She hastened away from him, darting between booths of zucchini and cucumbers, quickening her pace.
    She located Carrie near the edge of the tent. She stood beside a table stacked with red and green peppers. After disconnecting her call, she walked toward Jill. Her braces flashed as she smiled.
    “We dine at seven p.m. at Shaye and Trace’s beach house. I took down directions,” Carrie said. “It’s casual—Trace is going to grill. I asked Shaye what we could bring; she suggested mixed greens or coleslaw.”
    Jill proposed a layered salad. “We can mix fruits, veggies, and nuts.”
    Carrie agreed. “Sweet and crunchy. I like.”
    Jill followed Carrie up one aisle and down the other. Selecting the salad ingredients was easy and fun. They paid each vendor as they went, splitting the price of their purchases. Salad dressing wouldn’t be necessary. The juice from the fruit would suffice.
    All the while they shopped, Jill kept one eye on the produce and one eye out for Aidan Cates. She never did see him again. She was as