The Sound of Consequence (Puget Sound ~ Alive With Love Book 1) by Susan Ann Wall Read Free Book Online

left for the day.
    “Hey girlfriend,” Jenny said when Stacie propped herself up on one of the bar chairs. She handed the cup of coffee to Stacie and reached for another cup in the cupboard. “Back from your ferry adventure already? That was only about one round trip, if you even made it to the ferry.”
    “Oh, I made it to the ferry. The Cajun Sex God was on board.” Stacie added a little sugar and took a long, slow sip. She hadn’t dressed warmly enough for the ferry and despite the heat that Owen’s touch had generated, she’d had plenty of time on the return trip to catch a chill. She was grateful for the warmth of the coffee.
    “No shit,” Jenny said with a laugh. “That’s funny. You keep yourself cooped up here for days to avoid him and the first time you seek inspiration, you see him. Maybe he’s meant to be your muse.”
    “More like my distraction,” Stacie replied, frustrated that another day was going to pass with no forward momentum on her illustrations.
    “So did you talk to him? What happened? Deets, girlfriend!!” Jenny made herself comfortable on the chair next to Stacie, her eyes wide with anticipation.
    “It’s like I could sense him. I got this strange tingle down my neck. Can you believe that? And it’s not the first time it’s happened.” Stacie shook her head.
    She hadn’t felt right since the car accident in April. Despite the initial CT scan being normal, the vertigo hit her on occasion. If it hadn’t been for the car accident, she’d chalk the tingle thing up to pure chemistry, not that she really believed in that sort of thing. Everything had changed since that fateful night, though. Stacie had changed. It was all for the better.
    She’d been unhappy for so long that she hadn’t even realized it wasn’t normal. Now, looking back it was all so clear that she should have left that life behind years ago. She was also very aware of the things that were so different about her. This neck tingle thing was at the top of her list of anomalies. Stacie wondered if the head injury had left her with some sort of sixth sense. Not one that signaled danger, though if she allowed herself to get involved with Owen Landry, that could be a dangerous thing. She didn’t have good judgment when it came to men. Hence the reason she’d stayed with Greg for ten years.
    “The first time I saw him in that café, I got the same tingle in my neck. And again at the club. Then this morning, I’m standing on the upper deck and I got the same strange tingling sensation. Plus I could smell his cologne.” She remembered how her body reacted, knowing it was him before she even saw him. “I opened my eyes and he was on the main deck, staring at me.”
    “Shit, he must have smelled you, too.” Jenny sniffed in Stacie’s direction. “I can’t smell you. He must be tuned to your pheromones or something.”
    “Or something,” Stacie giggled. Jenny’s silly sniffing lightened the mood, pulling Stacie out of the past and dissipating the frustration of running into her neighbor. “Anyway, his name is Owen. He works at the naval yard.” Stacie relayed the conversation to Jenny, who listened intently.
    “Good God, girl, you’re a player.”
    “I am not!” Stacie retorted defensively.
    “Hey, I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing. He wants you, that’s obvious. You’re the one who has all the control. And he’s smokin’ hot to boot. You’re living the dream, girlfriend.”
    Stacie had no idea what she was doing. She’d never been much of a flirt. Hearing herself say these things to this man, and then kissing him like that right there for the world to see made her wonder who the… hell …she was.
    Oh, wait, she had the answer to that. This was the new and improved Stacie Nightingale. Consequences were no longer considered before action.
    The strange thing was, she wasn’t trying to flirt with him. If she’d been doing it consciously, with thought and effort, she’d take the credit