Read Caught in the Current (Pacific Shores Book 2) for Free Online Page B

but there was a certain set to her jaw that let him know he’d better not just yet. He might be in enough trouble already when she realized he’d covered her co-pay at the emergency room with his own card. “The receipt is in one of the bags.”
    She left her shoes on the tarp and walked out without another word.
    As he watched her walk away, his focus slipped to the gentle sway of her hips above those long, athletic, brown legs. He swallowed and forced himself to look at the floor. No matter how hard he tried not to think about how beautiful she still was, the battle was futile.
    He switched his attention to the small section of wall that still needed another coat of paint. If it sat too much longer, she would have to wait till the second coat she’d already put on it dried completely. He grabbed up the paint roller and loaded it with paint, then set to rolling over the last small section. It was a few minutes before he felt more than heard her come to stand in the doorway behind him.
    “You don’t have to do that. I can finish.”
    She was obviously used to fending and doing for herself. He loaded the roller again and glanced at her over his shoulder. “I don’t mind. Painting is therapeutic. And I didn’t want it to go all tacky on you. I’ve almost got it done.” She had a checkbook in one hand, but her arms were folded and one of her shoulders was planted into the doorframe. He turned back to rolling on the paint.
    “The receipt doesn’t have the pickles on it.”
    “Yeah, I sort of forgot the pickles. I have to run back by the store before I go home to pick them up for Mom.” Not that he would have put them on her tab anyhow, but he wouldn’t mention that part. But suddenly he saw a way to convince her to join him this evening at his welcome-home party. He pretended to carefully check the wall for any thin spots. “So I guess if you want to pay for them, you could come with me. Then Alyssa could get her ride in my truck like I promised her while she’s awake.” Satisfied that the wall was coated well enough, he set down the roller and double-checked his hands for any paint. He didn’t want to get any on his clothes. “But, since the store is closer to home than here, it would be easier timewise if you just came out to the house for this dinner Mom has planned. Then I can bring you home later tonight.” He glanced over to see if she was buying it.
    She pressed her lips together and swallowed. “I’m not so sure your mom would like that. She didn’t give me an invitation.”
    Reece stilled and studied her for a moment. Even though he could tell she was trying to hide it, there was definite hurt in her expression. Mom wouldn’t do that on purpose, would she? “Maybe it just got lost in the mail?”
    Marie shook her head. “She handed them out at church. She handed Kylen and Taysia’s to them while I was standing right—” She broke off and looked away, waving a hand to dismiss what she’d been about to say. “It’s not a big deal.”
    Reece felt a heaviness weight his heart. His frustration with his mother rose several notches. He couldn’t believe she’d done that. She’d handed invitations out right in front of Marie but hadn’t given her one? “Well, I want you there, so come with me.”
    She wriggled her pink-sock-covered toe into a small tear in the tarp and didn’t answer.
    “Please?”
    Her eyes narrowed, but humor twinkled. “You’re just trying to get another person to your welcome-home party. Not enough friends left in town?”
    He couldn’t stop the grin that tugged at his lips. “Maybe.”
    A smile etched lines at the corners of her eyes. “Well, it won’t work.” A bit of her old familiar sass sparkled in her blue gaze. “Sooner or later you’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that you really don’t have any friends, Reece.” Sarcasm dripped thickly from her words.
    He chuckled and rubbed at a small white speck on his thumb. She was going to say