Treading Water by Marie Force Read Free Book Online

you’re born inside the city limits. I’m originally from
Connecticut.”
    “ What brought you
here?”
    “ Jamie and I came here when
we were in graduate school and fell in love with the place. We both
love to sail, so when we started HBA, we decided to locate it here.
On a day like this, you can see why.”
    “ I wouldn’t get anything
done if I lived here.”
    “ We take a lot of half days
in the summer,” he said. “Have you lived long in
Chicago?”
    “ All my life except for
college in New York. I guess I’m pretty boring, but I love the
city. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
    After she checked into her downtown Newport
hotel, he drove her through the city. She marveled at the rows of
colonial homes, cobblestone streets, and gas-powered lantern
streetlights. The streets teemed with tourists as they poured in
and out of restaurants, shops, and bars.
    On the way to the office, he drove past the
crowded town beach and merry-go-round. In HBA’s parking lot, he
walked around to open her door.
    “ Another amazing view,” she
said when they reached his office. “I have a great view of the lake
from my office, but I hardly notice it anymore. You can’t help but
notice yours. And I love this building.”
    “ This was our first
collaboration. We’d worked for the same company but not on any
projects together. The way this place came together boosted our
confidence about going out on our own.”
    “ Where were you
before?”
    “ We did seven years with
Neil Booth in Boston.”
    Andi’s eyes widened.
“ The Neil
Booth?”
    “ The one and only. He’s
Jamie’s father.”
    “ Oh my God, of course! I
didn’t make the connection, and Jamie never mentioned
it.”
    “ He doesn’t make a big
production about it, so don’t let on I told you,” Jack said,
smiling.
    She wandered over to look
at his framed degrees on the wall. “Well, look at you: Berkeley,
Harvard, and a
Roman numeral. John Joseph Harrington the third . Very impressive.”
    Sadness descended upon him when he
remembered Clare teasing him about being a Harvard graduate. “Yes,
terribly impressive,” he forced himself to say, “and that’s the
only place in my world you’ll ever see that Roman numeral. Let me
show you to your office. Then we’ll grab some lunch and head out to
the site.”
    “ Sounds great, John the
third,” she teased, smiling at his playful scowl.
     
    After lunch and a tour of the Infinity site,
Jack flipped open his cell phone. “Let me check with Jamie about
sailing and at home to see who wants to come along.”
    “ I need to call home,
too.”
    He pulled into a gourmet deli to pick up the
picnic dinner he had ordered.
    “ Tell him I love him,” Andi
was saying when Jack returned to the car.
    “ Who’s the lucky guy?” Jack
asked after she ended the call.
    “ My son. He’s five and
sound asleep at the moment.”
    “ I love that age,” he said
wistfully as he drove to the marina. “They’re still so cute and
funny. Teenagers can be anything but cute or funny. Although I’m lucky—mine
aren’t as bad as some.”
    “ I’m sure they
aren’t.”
    Her cell phone rang as they arrived at the
marina.
    “ Sorry, I have to take
this. It’s my deputy director calling from Juneau.” She rolled her
eyes. “ Lots of
issues out there.”
    “ Take your time. I’ll
unload the car and come back for you.”
     
    While Andi took her call,
Jack walked down the dock with an armload of bags. He unlocked the
large navy blue sailboat he and Jamie had named Blueprint. When he was greeted by a blast of heat from the cabin, he
opened the hatches to let in the cool sea breeze.
    Glancing up at the parking
lot, he saw Andi laughing and talking with animated hands. God, she’s beautiful . An
ache formed in his gut that he was startled to recognize as desire.
It’d been so long, he’d almost forgotten the sensation of wanting a
woman. Acknowledging that he’d been attracted to her from the first
moment he saw her,