Read Must Be Love: (Nicole and Ryan) (A Jetty Beach Romance Book 1) for Free Online

in any order that I can see. A few pieces of traditional Native American art are right next to an oil painting of a sunset on the beach. There are pedestals displaying sculpture, but they don’t appear to be by the same artist, or even in the same style. A rack of postcards stands in the center of the room, right in the midst of everything.
    "Yes, Mom," Ryan says. "I know. Okay, sure, I'll swing by later. No, it's no problem. Love you, too." He taps the screen and puts his phone back in his pocket. "Sorry."
    "No, don't worry about it," I say. "How's your mom?"
    "She's fine." He rubs the back of his neck. "She, um, she calls me a lot."
    My mouth drops open a little and I swear my heart literally melts inside my chest. It isn’t what Ryan said, but how he said it. He has this sweet, almost apologetic smile, and his tone is so … protective.
    "That's nice," I say. "She probably missed having you around. She must have been ecstatic when you moved back to the beach."
    "You have no idea," he says. "I crashed at my parents’ house when I first got into town, and it took all of twenty-four hours for her to try to convince her neighbors to move so I could buy the house next door."
    I laugh. I remember Mrs. Jacobsen as a sweet lady who talks a lot. I can just imagine her knocking on her neighbor's door, offering to have her son buy the place. "Something you probably found out about later," I say.
    "Exactly."
    "Sort of how we ended up here?" I say, gesturing to the gallery.
    "Oh, you mean you didn't volunteer for this out of the goodness of your heart?"
    I laugh again. "Not quite. My mom likes to volunteer me for things."
    "You got voluntold too?" he asks.
    "Yes!" Oh my god, he used my word. "She swears that isn't a word, but I'm pretty sure in the dictionary under voluntold, there's a picture of my mom with that look on her face."
    "What, this one?" Ryan widens his eyes and plasters on an exaggerated smile. "But honey, this will be a great opportunity," he says in a high-pitched voice. "Besides, it means so much to the community."
    I cover my mouth, laughing so hard my shoulders shake. "Were you in my kitchen the other day? Because that is my mom, spot on. Just add a little bit of barely concealed judgment and you've got it."
    "I get that, too," he says and his smile fades a little.
    I want to ask what he means, but the look on his face holds me back. "So what's it like, coming back here after … where did you live before?"
    "L.A. Honestly, I left Jetty Beach thinking I'd never come back, except to visit my parents once in a while. This place seemed so small and backward." He shrugs again, the little line between his eyes standing out. Holy shit, that look is adorable. "Turns out city life wasn't what I thought it would be."
    There’s something behind his eyes, a pain I can almost feel. It makes me want to press myself against him and soothe all his hurts, whatever they are.
    "And you're happier here?" I say. I realize there’s too much skepticism in my voice because a flash of defensiveness crosses his face. Damn it, I didn’t mean to insult him. Again.
    "A lot, actually," he says.
    My phone rings. I think about ignoring it, but it is business hours and technically, I am supposed to be working. "Oh, crap. Sorry, it's my boss." I tap the screen to answer. "Hi Sandra."
    "Nicole, where did you put the box of menus for the luncheon?" Sandra asks. She sounds annoyed.
    "They're in the workroom, on the bottom shelf. Right next to the copier."
    "Oh," she says. "Right. Here they are. Thanks."
    She hangs up without saying goodbye.
    I let out a heavy sigh.
    "Work issues?" Ryan asks.
    "Sort of," I say. "Nothing major."
    "So you're, what, working remotely? How does that work?" he asks.
    Not very well, as it turns out. "Well, keeping up on emails and everything is easy enough. It wouldn't work long-term, but most of what I do, outside of an actual event day, is in the office. I spend the majority of my time coordinating with vendors and