Read Online Back To Us (Shore Secrets 3) by Christi Barth - Free Book Online

even stock up on extra Forever stamps right before an announced price hike, because it felt like cheating the post office. But still...”This is crazy.”
    “A little. Sometimes crazy works. Consider it an out-of-the-box solution to a long-standing problem.”
    “What’s the problem?” Piper held her breath. This had to be the root of it. The reason behind the unbelievable request that had just turned her world upside down. Inside out. And it just figured that whatever it was, Ward labeled it a problem. Probably blamed her for it too.
    “I want you.” There went his voice, dropping again into a growl that reverberated through her skin straight to her nerve endings. “I’ve never stopped wanting you. I can’t get you out of my mind.”
    “So this month of dating you’re proposing is like getting the flu vaccine. With all this extra exposure to me, you think your attraction will go away?” Piper knew she sounded flippant. But the words flew out in a defensive rush before she could stop them. Because Ward hadn’t just given a nod to the scab around her heart. No, with this offer, he’d stitched up the jagged edges of every slash he’d caused, bandaged them and essentially kissed it to make it all better.
    Could he, though? Make it all better? Did he even deserve the chance to try?
    Ward came around and crouched in front of her, hands hanging loosely off his massive thighs. “Just the opposite. I’m hoping that your attraction to me will come back.”
    It was on the tip of her tongue to admit that it had never left. Not when she was crying buckets of tears every night. Not when she ripped up the notes he’d written her. Not when she made Ella and Casey go out in the middle of the night and spray-paint over the
P
+
W
he’d put on a rock at the edge of the lake.
    Piper felt like she was poised on one end of a teeter-totter. Right now, everything could change. Everything had to change. Ward’s offer was out there now, flaring bright in her consciousness. She couldn’t ignore what he’d said. Couldn’t forget it. But was she ready to fall again? Either head over heels...or out of love with him forever? Either way, it would still be a fall.
    “I can’t decide right now. You have to give me time. Every business decision should be carefully mulled over for at least twenty-four hours before proceeding.”
    Ward snickered. Reached out one long arm to tap the row of business books on her shelf. “Did you read that in one of these textbooks?”
    “Maybe.” Absolutely. Quite a few things in Piper had changed since high school. Her utter devotion to research, however, had not lessened one bit. And Ward had always teased her about her fanatical studying. How was this rapport between them suddenly so familiar and easy? “It doesn’t make it any less true.”
    “Don’t you ever go with your gut?” He sauntered closer.
    “That’s risky.”
    A devilish smile flashed across his face. “That’s the fun part.”
    “We can argue over business strategies—or lack thereof—later,” she said archly, giving him a disapproving glare down her nose. “I’m going to have to insist on time to weigh the pros and cons.”
    “It’s Wednesday. I’ll give you until this time on Friday.” He closed the distance between them in one long stride. “I’ll give you something to start off that pro/con list with too.”
    Ward bent, putting his lips on hers before Piper could decide whether to scoot out of reach or not. Probably because a part of her couldn’t believe it was actually happening. There was a very strong possibility she’d passed out from exhaustion and this whole thing was a dream. It was the likeliest explanation for the morning’s strange turn of events.
    But the warm slide of his lips pulled her straight out of her head and rooted her firmly in the moment.
This
moment. What she’d dreamed about and hoped for didn’t hold a candle to the reality of Ward,
her
Ward, finally claiming her again with a kiss