Read Gypsy Beach for Free Online Page A

having
gone for something like that though. She thought he’d gotten
married, but there was no ring to be found. If he works in
construction, he probably doesn’t wear a ring, so it doesn’t get
messed up. You really are an idiot, Sienna.
    “Uh, if you’re interested, we could look into
doing a tankless system. I’m not sure they’ve worked all their
kinks out yet, but might be worth investigating if you’re going to
house multiple people here in the summers.”
    Still trying to make sense of the insanity of
all of this, Sienna managed a slight nod.
    “Uh, that sounds good.” She had no idea what
he’d said, but that sexy husk of his voice always made heat surge
rapidly through her entire body. It quickly remedied the freezing
shower she’d endured.
    “Sienna, thank you. Really, you have no idea
what this means to me. Let me go check the tank.”
    Wait! Did I just hire him? Oh my God, what
did I say? She watched Ryan walk out the bedroom door. Their
eyes met as he made his escape. Surely, that wasn’t longing that
she saw there. She’d imagined that.
    Ryan McNamara could have any woman he wanted.
He was gorgeous and his family had tons of money. She’d never be
enough, but he was kind, and most importantly, he could give her
hot water. That fact alone sealed the deal.
    Hoping it wouldn’t take more than a few weeks
to redo her beloved Inn, she told herself that she and Ryan could
work together, maybe even be friends again. That she could
endure.
    That liquid heat that she felt forming
between her thighs would just have to chill. Her heart could not
survive another devastating blow. She could not fall back in love
with him and then watch Ryan McNamara walk away again. She wouldn’t
survive.
     

Six
    Ryan located the
water heater in the old workroom just off the kitchen. He was too
stunned to concentrate for several long minutes. Leaning back
against the concrete walls, he tried to fathom how on earth he’d
ended up working for Sienna Cooper. Not that he minded, but he
wasn’t at all certain he could survive having her in his presence
without having her in his arms.
    The last decade had done nothing to douse his
desire for her. She was somehow still the only thing in his entire
world that made perfect sense. He’d lost her for good. She should
never forgive him for what he did, and she sure as hell didn’t need
to be dragged through the hell he’d been living for the last
year.
    Maybe by redoing the Inn for her, he could
make up for some of the heartache he’d caused. If he didn’t
desperately need the money, he’d do it for free. He owed her far
more than that.
    Payment or not, he could help her achieve
what was quite obviously her dream. She’d make it a huge success,
and he would stand back and be supremely proud for her and of her,
but she wasn’t his anymore. She deserved so much more than he could
ever offer her. If he played all of his cards right, maybe they
could just be friends and neighbors. He could still bring Evie here
and raise her, but if he screwed up again, it would be too painful
to live in the same town with Sienna. He had to do this right.
    She appeared in the workroom before he had
time to prepare himself. His mouth flooded with saliva. He was
unable to speak as he stood there, stupidly pointing to the pilot
light that had just gone back out.
    She was wearing some kind of thin slip dress,
and apparently her view on undergarments hadn’t changed in the last
ten years as she wasn’t wearing any underneath the dress. It was
cut in a low v and showed off the beautiful swells of the tops of
her breasts. His jaw clenched as he ordered his hands to remain
away from her chest. Tracing over those swells was the only thing
his brain offered him. The rage of teenage hormones that her lack
of belief in panties and bras had given him when he was seventeen
was nothing compared to how hard he was hung at that moment. His
cock could drive every damn nail he’d need to rebuild the