Read Online All To Myself by Annemarie Hartnett - Free Book Online

out.”
    “What for? Your Dad owns a hotel. Not even just a hotel, a resort.”
    “Yeah, but that’s his. Not mine. I didn’t even buy it with his money. I bought it with what my grandmother gave me for my high school graduation. Yeah, she gave it to me, but I’m the one that invested it and let it grow while I was in school.” He looked to her with a smile that was a mile-wide. “Okay, so I kind of liked driving the old ladies around yesterday. I liked talking to them and seeing how much fun they were having. I don’t know if I want to work at the hotel, but I think I might like to set something up out here when I’m finished school, something of my own.”
    There was something in his tone that touched her. It was hard to give it a name, but it was like determination mixed with pride. He’d probably never done hard labor until a few days ago, but if she was in his position would she have spent her summers working? Probably not.
    She stroked her thumb across his palm and smiled back at him. “I suppose working for yourself is a good idea, since you don’t like working for other people. And if you like it …”
    “Exactly. I have two years of my program and a summer off in between. I haven’t talked to Dad yet, but I can’t think of a better person to mentor me. In the meantime …” He shook off her grip and slipped his hand on her thigh. “I’m recruiting you to help me christen the land.”
    “That sounds so solemn. Now I feel bad for turning my nose up at the tent.”
    “You can make it up to me.”
    For the rest of the drive, chit chat was broken by short but comfortable silences. She placed her hand over his and enjoyed his company. She could have rested her head on his shoulder and drifted off into sleep with the sound of his voice surrounding her and the warmth of his body through his clothes.
    “It’s up here somewhere,” he said and put all of his attention onto the road. He stopped and glanced back with a scowl. “I think I may have passed it. Damn it. I should have put a marker at the end of the driveway or something.”
    This went on for ten minutes. His frustration was plain, but as Rory laughed at his repeated failures he had nothing for her but a smile.
    “Are you sure we’re even on the right end of the island?” she asked, a little concerned as the bumpy road jostled her.
    “I know east from west,” he growled, then barked with laughter. “Can you imagine if I did that, though? How many people would you tell?”
    “Everyone--not so fast, please. I’m a little worried there’s a cliff at the end of this road.”
    His arm shot out and he pointed to something on the side of the road. “There. I knew this was it. I remember those buoys hanging from that post. Right around this corner is an overturned boat that’s rotting.”
    Noah sounded so excited she didn’t have the heart in her to make fun of him. Sure enough, the grey-brown remnants of an old dory appeared in the headlights. He maneuvered the SUV around until the lights hit a clearing, and then he cut the engine.
    He took her hand. “Promise you won’t think me less manly for buying a pop-up tent.”
    “I actually applaud that decision, because you wouldn’t get any help from me putting a tent up at this hour. We’d end up sleeping in the backseat.”
    Her heart fluttered a little when he kissed her knuckles, and the sensation moved down to her stomach as they got out of the SUV. As he set up the tent, she happily unloaded the rest of the gear. He’d gone all out with sleeping pads and folding furniture, a small stove and kettle, and a load of groceries.
    “You know we’re not in the middle of nowhere, right?” she joked about the amount of gear as he ran the air pump from the tent to the adapter in the car.
    “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I want to keep you zipped up in the tent as long as I can tomorrow morning?”
    No grinning. No laughing as her face caught fire. He leaned into the truck and hid