Riptide (Limitless Book 1) by Kinsey Corwin Read Free Book Online Page A

years, he doesn’t quit. I’m sure he is hotter than hell right now.”
    No, her father wasn’t a quitter, but he’d come close once. Phoenix thought she’d had it all figured out. Life was for fun, relationships were trouble, and you did what you had to in order to protect what was yours. Right now, she found herself questioning how much she really knew about life, because at the moment...she sure as shit wasn’t enjoying herself. Personal involvements came at a price, but she wondered if they were worth it, and she was losing sight on what she fought so hard to protect. The way she saw things, her heart would be at risk of breaking one way or the other. Just a matter of who did the breaking—Hunter or her father. “Yeah well, every last one of you are pissing me off, so I figure turnabout is fair play.”
    “Take a walk with me?”
    He stood and turned toward her, giving her an unobstructed view of his muscled chest and slight washboard stomach. When it came to bodies that made her want, his beat them all, and in her line of work, she saw a lot of half-naked bodies. Something about Hunter always made her want to take him however and wherever she could have him. She looked at him, wondering what he had up his sleeve.
    He held his hands up in surrender. “Just want to talk.”
    She wasn’t sure they were capable of doing something other than fall into bed together. Part of her feared what they shared would be diminished by the everyday crap that wore people down. “That’s not typically what we do.”
    “I know. To be honest, I don’t think it’s been working out so well for us, even before your dad threw this ‘assignment’ in the mix. And I think we can admit we don’t have much choice at this point.” He held a hand out to her. “If we go one more day of not really talking, trying desperately to avoid the elephant in the room, I think we just might kill each other.”
    The man had a point. The last couple of days when they did manage to exchange words; the conversations were laden with the expectations placed on them by her father. If they could clear the air, then maybe there was some chance things could get back to normal between them.
    “All right.” Phoenix took his out stretched hand, enjoying the strength and solidness of his grip. He let go as they rounded the bottom of the stairs and she missed the contact.
    “Hello, Aaron.” The clipped tone in Hunter’s voice told Phoenix that he resented the man’s presence nearly as much as she did. Information she could use to her advantage should her dad continue to fight her on her request.
    “Morning, Mr. Sullivan.” He looked past him to Phoenix. “Your father’s been calling—”
    “You can let my father know that I will call him later.” She grabbed the boat keys off the hook just inside the doorway. “We’ll be back.”
    “I won’t be here. Your father has requested my return. I will make sure everything is fully stocked before I go.”
    “Thanks.” Wow. Who’d have guessed that Mr. Take-No-Prisoners-Nash would make a concession? Phoenix expected more of a fight from dear old over-protective dad. She turned to Hunter, whose eyes had darkened and she was all too familiar with that look of lust and need swimming in their depths. Heat rose into her cheeks as she winked at him and jerked her head towards the dock. “Let’s go.”
    Once they were out of sight of the house, Hunter took her hand in his. “Of all the people on his payroll, why did your dad have to choose you?”
    “Because my dad trusts me to do what is right by you and the company at all costs.” Including at the expense of her heart.
    “What if the two things don’t coincide?”
    “Sometimes, they don’t.” She hopped into the boat and slid the key into the ignition, then she headed toward the front and slid the rope off the front cleat. She went back to the driver’s seat, reached over the side and held onto the dock as Hunter removed the last rope tethering