Seduce Like a Siren: A Man of the Month Club Christmas in July Spinoff Novella by Ellen Brooks

Author:Ellen Brooks [Brooks, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-07-21T23:00:00+00:00

ANDIE

“Ouch!” I tuck my thumb into my mouth to ease the pain from a pinch between a box of lights and one of the ginormous PVC snowflakes I’m wrangling out of the backroom at the shop. It’s been years since these decorations were used, and I hope they still work.

The local station, which spins Christmas music along with Top-40 hits all year long, plays from the old boombox I keep behind the counter. It’s cranked louder than usual because we’re closed and the silence when I first unlocked the door and stepped inside from the busy marina was deafening.

I drop the load on the dock next to the first of our three boat repair bays, where my pontoon bobs gently on the waves. As I head back inside, I glance up at the analog clock hung next to the thermometer on the wall. Ethan and I agreed to meet here at two and it’s five ‘til.

A flutter of anticipation appears in my belly, like the barely perceptible wiggle of a silver fish just below the surface at low tide, but I push it away and head back into the supply room. After all, nothing happened last night after that near kiss at the restaurant, not even the slightest brush of our hands on the walk home. Not a hint of a goodnight kiss when I headed off to bed. And this morning, Ethan seemed all business again while he got ready to head out for a run and then said he had some email to catch up on.

No, it seemed talking to AJ reminded Ethan of his business and his priorities, which don’t involve falling for his best friend’s sister.

But he agreed to help decorate my boat when I mentioned it. And he seemed open to my invitation to join me on the water tonight for the float parade. So there’s hope he might actually be interested in me. Not much, mind you, not more than a sliver, but I’ve decided, after giving it a lot of thought today, that there’s no harm in having a little fun while he’s here. Nothing serious, of course. I mean, I’m not talking love or anything, just a fun romp.

Why not? Okay, sure, I could list a dozen reasons why not, but none of them really matter. At least, not in the grand scheme of things.

I grab another box off the shelf, the side labeled “lights” in my father’s handwriting in black Sharpie, and my thoughts drift to my call with Olivia last night at dinner. If I didn’t already suspect Ethan and I were being set up, the conversation had confirmed it.

Not in so many words. Olivia flatly denied any involvement, but she’d slipped in Ethan’s ardent dedication to his friends and fellow soldiers, his sense of humor, and, yes, his overprotectiveness. As if that weren’t enough, she’d assured me that beneath his serious exterior lay a kind-hearted guy who simply needed someone to encourage him to lighten up.

“Maybe, you’re that person?”

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