The Life She Wants by Jo McNally

Author:Jo McNally
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-03-07T20:17:24+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MEL DROPPED HER bag on the kitchen counter and called out to Nessie. Before she snapped on the leash, she dug the pill bottle out of the bag and tucked it into her front pocket. It didn’t show under her long top, but she could feel it hard against her hip. She hadn’t let those pills out of her reach since she’d taken them from Tori. It was just her way of making sure they stayed safe. That was all. She wouldn’t want them to fall into the wrong hands, and she knew she was strong enough to resist them. At least she hoped she was. She patted the small cylinder. She had to be strong enough. Otherwise the past two years had been wasted.

Nessie was thrilled to finally be headed out for her real morning walk. The dog had a bottomless well of curiosity, and she sniffed and watched everything until something new caught her attention, which generally happened every five seconds or so. She barked with joy when she spotted Shane standing on the corner. Mel looked up and almost forgot to make Nessie heel.

He was leaning against the lamppost with one hand in his pocket. The sun made his hair look like polished copper. At Nessie’s bark, his head lifted and he gave a little wave, then looked at his hand as if he couldn’t believe what it had done. Mel tried not to smile.

Shane was like an awkward little boy around her sometimes, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. She’d never liked it when men had fawned over her in the modeling world. But Shane’s emotions were so jumbled that she didn’t know how to read them. It was fun to watch the confusion flash across his face, though. His hand dropped, and he cleared his throat.

“Where to?”

“Let’s go toward the resort first.” She glanced at his shoes again. “There’s a trail by the lake that’s pretty level. It’s where I found Nessie.” They headed past the closed-up bakery on the corner, then Asher’s custom furniture studio and Nora’s coffeehouse. She told Shane how Nora and Asher had met when Nora’s daughter and Asher’s son fell in love and found themselves expecting a child. Neither Nora nor Asher had wanted to be grandparents, for very different reasons, but there they were. Neighboring businesses. Neighboring apartments. A baby on the way. And love in the air.

He nodded. “I still say small-town life must feel suffocating after the life you’ve led.”

She knew what he meant. She’d modeled clothing in actual palaces. She’d done a photo shoot on top of a skyscraper high above the city of Dubai. If Shane had really done the research he’d claimed, he knew she’d been a big part of the very metropolitan Miami club scene while she’d lived there. So, yes, Gallant Lake was a major change of pace. But it didn’t feel suffocating at all.

“Actually, it feels liberating. I can let my guard down here and just be me.

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