Seal With a Kiss by Jessica Andersen Read Free Book Online

to you either or you wouldn't have replaced me
so easily. Ellen wanted to be a family. I didn't. Your
choice seemed simple." She sighed and reached for
the door handle, then forced false cheer into her
voice. "But why rehash all this now? It was a long
time ago and a lot of water under each of our
bridges."
    She hopped out of the truck and turned to rummage through her squashed bag for her bathing suitwhat there was of it.
    "Wait a second! That's not fair. You turned me
down!" He was out of the truck in an instant, coming
around to her side practically radiating shock and indignation.
    "Yes, I did. And beyond that, I don't really want
to talk about it, do you? It's ancient history, Smitty.
Let's leave it in the past." Determinedly, she pushed
the sadness back into the corner of her mind where
it belonged. "And you're right. We deserve a break.
Let's hit the water park and see if we still remember
how it's done."

    She looked up to see if he was with her and found
his eyes glued to the bikini. She dangled one of the
tiny straps off a finger. "You with me?"
    He swallowed. "Um. Yeah."
    Though a faint sadness echoed in her chest, Violet
grinned, grabbed a towel, and sashayed towards the
entrance of the park. She had, she realized, spent so
much time recently being mean to him that she'd
forgotten how much fun they'd once had together.
And how good it felt when the thought of seeing her
in that bikini could make his eyes bug out, even
though it had been ten years since they'd been anything more than friends.
    Ten long years during which he'd been married
and divorced, and she'd not... been married.
    The water park had been his idea, but as he
watched Violet disappear into the ladies' changing
room, Smitty wished he'd pulled over at a petting
zoo instead. Even a flea market or a country fair
would've been easier than this.
    It hadn't been until he'd pulled into the water park
and set the brake that he realized that he'd brought
them back to the place where it had all gone wrong.
Until that day at California's WaveForm Water Park,
he'd truly believed that he and Violet were going to
spend the rest of their lives together. He'd truly believed they were soul mates.

    He'd been so lost when classes began that year at
U.C. Santa Cruz. His mother's death had set him
adrift in the world without any family and only a few
close friends. Then he'd met Violet at orientation.
She'd been smart, sassy, beautiful... and seemed
just as alone as he'd felt.
    They'd become friends, then a couple. And the
more he'd learned about her sprawling, loving family
in the middle of the country, the more Smitty had
envied it. The more he'd wanted those kinds of roots,
that kind of commitment.
    He'd thought she wanted it too.
    "You're not changed yet!"
    He blinked back from the past. And blinked again.
The tiny blue bikini danced before his eyes, partially
hidden by a clever wrap that she'd tied across her
hips.
    "Smitty? You okay?"
    He swallowed and nodded, trapped somewhere between the past and a fantasy. "Fine. I'll just. . . ." He
gestured towards the changing rooms. "Be right
back."
    He needed a minute alone. The past and the present were too tangled up in his head. And thoughts of
the future? They were just as tangled. It seemed obvious they couldn't keep on fighting the way they'd
been doing lately, but he didn't see how they could be something as simple as friends. And if not friends,
then what? He didn't like the idea of not seeing her
on a daily basis, but the alternative was impossible.

    Sighing, he shook his head and went to change
into his trunks.
    By the time he caught up with her at one of the
monstrous water rides, Smitty had his thoughts back
under control. He and Violet were coworkers, nothing more. They'd tried the other before, and she'd
made it painfully clear that they weren't looking for
the same things out of life. So they'd have some fun
at the water park, get the rattling box