His Proposal, Their Forever by Melissa McClone

Author:Melissa McClone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Eleven minutes later, Justin pulled into Bailey’s driveway. He hadn’t expected her to be ready, given that she sounded as though he’d woken her up, let alone waiting for him on her front step. Yet there she was. The woman continued to surprise him.

Bailey wore a pair of faded jeans that hugged her hips. The bottom of a blue shirt hung out of her green fleece jacket. Cute. Typical Northwest attire and perfect for being outside this morning. There was no heavy coastal fog, but the temperature was cooler than yesterday when he’d gone for a run in shorts and tennis shoes.

He jumped out to open the passenger door for her. “Good morning. I swung by the Java Cup. There’s a coffee in the cab for you.”

“Thanks.”

Her lopsided ponytail bounced. She climbed into the truck. “I hope the dog didn’t wander off again.”

Her voice held a note of worry, but something else...anxiety. She sounded...impatient. He wanted to make her feel better, but a hug or another kiss seemed wrong right now.

He’d asked for her help. He didn’t want to take advantage of her.

“Me, too.” He climbed into the cab, backed the truck out of the driveway, caught a glimpse of Bailey biting her lip.

The gesture gave her up. He’d learned to read tells and Bailey was an open book. “Your foot okay?”

“Almost good as new.” No relief over her recovery showed on her face. Only worry.

He drove toward the bay. “You look...stressed.”

“I’ll feel better once we get the dog.”

The dog was a means to an end for Justin, a way of spending time with Bailey. Seeing her this morning was a great way to start his day. Maybe they could grab breakfast after they took care of the dog.

“There is something you should know.” She picked up her coffee from the truck’s drink holder. “Tyler told me not to see you without legal counsel present. That means him.”

Justin tightened his fingers around the steering wheel.

“He’s concerned about a conflict of interest and jeopardizing the inn,” she added.

“Seems strange he didn’t say this before.”

“Mabel contacted him after the paint night.”

“I remember Mabel.”

Bailey flicked her fingernail against the cup’s sleeve. “I’m sure you do.”

“Mabel has a reason to be upset. I get that.”

She looked at him. “You do?”

“Yeah. Usually by the time I start working on a place, time has passed. Employees are long gone. But jobs are difficult to find these days. No one wants to see loved ones out of work.”

He sure didn’t. But the longer the question of the inn’s ownership dragged on, being fired by his parents seemed more likely. His mom and dad were the dream destroyers. Or would be when the pink slips got handed out.

Once the company was sold, Justin had no doubt his sisters would move to bigger cities with more job opportunities. Portland, Seattle, maybe San Francisco. He’d never see them or his parents, who wanted to spend their retirement traveling the globe. All would leave Lincoln City without a glance back, the way Taryn had left.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.