Wind Chime Wedding (A Wind Chime Novel Book 2) by Sophie Moss Read Free Book Online Page B

He was right. It was longer, probably because she’d spent an hour flat ironing it before she’d left the house tonight. She couldn’t believe he’d noticed. Men never noticed things like that.
    “I like it,” he murmured.
    A traitorous curl of attraction took root inside her. It started low in her belly, coiling and spiraling as it spread. She remembered something that Will had told her once, that Colin had been one of the best snipers on the SEAL teams before his career had been cut short. He would have to possess an incredible attention to detail to have earned that kind of reputation. And it probably wasn’t something he could turn on and off at whim.
    But she wasn’t sure how she felt about that attention being focused on her .
    Taking a step back, she gathered her hair into a hasty ponytail at the back of her neck and searched for something—anything—to talk about that would make him stop looking at her like that. “You have an apartment downtown, right?” she managed finally, forcing the words out.
    He nodded.
    “That must be nice.” She gazed past him at the historic streets that spiraled out from the harbor, focusing on the colorful potted plants that graced many of the brick stoops to avoid meeting his eyes . “To be so close to everything.”
    “It is.”
    “Are you going to hold onto it so you have a place to stay when you come up to Annapolis?”
    “I haven’t decided yet.” He continued to watch her for several more moments before finally nodding for her to walk with him toward the strip of restaurants along the north side of the harbor. “I’ll be spending most of my time on the island so I don’t know if it makes sense to keep it.”
    As soon as his attention was focused elsewhere, she released her hair and fell into step beside him. “You’re renting the Murphy’s old place, right? The one by the marina?”
    “Temporarily.” He steered her around a group of teenagers attempting a series of tricks on their skateboards. “I’m still looking for the right place to buy.”
    She looked up at him, surprised. “You’re thinking of buying?”
    He nodded, pausing at the edge of the curb, waiting for a few cars to pass.
    “I didn’t realize you were planning to stay that long.”
    Now it was his turn to look surprised. “What do you mean?”
    “I thought you were just moving to the island to help Will get the business started.”
    “Why would you think that?”
    “I don’t know. I guess I thought the inn would be more of a stepping stone for you—the first of many projects you’d start for veterans.”
    He seemed to ponder that as they started across the street.
    “How long are you planning to stay?” she asked.
    “For good.”
    Becca’s brows shot up. “You want to move to the island for good?”
    “Yes.” He laughed, pausing again when they reached the opposite curb. “Why is that so shocking?”
    “Because…”
    “Because… what ?”
    “Because…people like you don’t move to Heron Island.”
    “People like me?”
    Becca watched the wind blow a lock of black hair into his eyes and she fought the urge to reach up and brush it aside. “We don’t get a lot of people who are”— young, single, attractive —“unattached moving to Heron Island.”
    “Ryan’s unattached.”
    That was true, Becca thought. Ryan Callahan, one of her best friends from childhood, had recently moved back to the island to open an environmental center. But Ryan was an anomaly. And he was from the island. That was different. “Ryan grew up on Heron Island. It’s his home.”
    “Annie moved there and she was unattached.”
    Becca bit her lip. That was true, too. But Annie’s circumstances had been so unique. She’d needed a place to escape to, a place for her daughter to heal. “Annie was trying to get away from something.”
    “So what are you saying?” Colin asked. “Unless you’re attached, originally from there, or trying to get away from something, you can’t move to