The Ultimate Sizzling Beach Reads--4 Book Box Set by Penny Jordan

Author:Penny Jordan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Special Release

CHAPTER SEVEN

AARON EXCELLED AT the waltz. Jenn had never waltzed in her life, but he was surprisingly patient, not swearing too loudly when she trounced on his toes, and eventually she got the hang of it.

“Who taught you to dance?”

“A female friend of my father’s. His set was a great believer in the odd and the eccentric.”

“It explains much,” she noted, but she kept her voice nice and gentle and noncombative.

When the crowd started getting too dense, he took her hand and led her outside, wandering down the primrose path, meandering close to the lake. Some people who were not attuned to the intricate workings of his mind might have considered it romantic.

Jenn knew better than to believe that. Although secretly she hoped.

Gas lanterns flickered with light. Possibly environmentally irresponsible, but pretty nonetheless. Aaron walked slowly with all the relaxed temperament of a man grown apart from the city.

“Why did you want to be a writer?” she asked, not that she was surprised at his choice, but it was unconventional, it was radical, it spoke of a man who listened to no one but himself.

He paused for a moment, and stared out over the quiet waters of the lake. “My father considered himself a great literary genius. An undiscovered talent who was passed over by publishing bean counters because of their vacuous tastes for monetized drivel. He always said he didn’t care, but then he’d go through the bookstores, thumbing through titles and making fun of everything there. It ruined his life. He wanted to be recognized. He hated that he wasn’t. And he hated that he cared.” His voice held the disdain of a man who despised the obsession. Fascinating.

“And you chose writing because?”

Aaron shrugged, his eyes fixed somewhere beyond the present. “I don’t know.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Now you think about respecting personal boundaries? Go ahead.”

“How can you afford not to work?”

At her question, his shoulders hunched tight and tense, and his eyes grew cool and aloof. “About eight years ago I got lucky and came into some money. It’s enough to keep me in my cabin in the woods.”

“What happens when the money goes? What will you do then?”

“Be poor,” he stated, sounding cavalier about the possibility. It was only rich people who thought like that. Poor people knew that being poor sucked.

“Why not do something else?” she asked, sounding exactly like her mother, but there was a certain wisdom in planning for a rainy day. Since they were talking about someone other than herself, she felt especially curious.

The north shore of the lake was far away from the tiny campground with its rustic amenities. Here where they walked, a line of stately houses, built in a time long past, watched over the water. It was easy to walk here and dream.

“Would you do something else?” he said, shooting many holes through her shining moment of sounding responsible, and he didn’t even look sad about it.

“I’m not ready to abandon my ship yet. But I

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