Read Online Butterfly Cove by Christina Skye - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christina Skye
Ads: Link
beautiful and I’m enjoying my camera. For the record, I’m not frowning or looking wistful about anything,” she said flatly.
“If you say so.” Jilly leaned closer. “Rafe looks pretty good in that tight black T-shirt. If I didn’t have Walker, I could be very tempted.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. Jilly was never subtle about anything, even when she made a joke. “It’s nice of him to come and help Walker. Any new problems?”
“The upstairs back bathtub is leaking now. Walker went to get caulking and some kind of rubber gaskets this morning. Frankly, I think we should invest in a hardware store of our own.”
Rafe walked up the stairway below the porch, pulling off his black T-shirt as he spoke. “Jilly, can I take Duffy for a run on the beach? I’m pretty sweaty here, despite the chill. I think the two of us need a swim.”
Sweat glistened on his bare chest and slid slowly down his powerful biceps, and Olivia strangled a sigh at the sight of that tanned, rugged body.
The man was drop-dead gorgeous. Didn’t he realize that?
Olivia could hear the sudden drum of her heart. Rafe had always been good to look at. But now, after hard years of exercise and fieldwork, he had a dangerous, lean body that left Olivia wondering what it would be like to set a match to all that hot, dangerous energy and feel it explode.
She coughed hard, angry at the direction her thoughts had taken.
Rafe stared at the two women. “What?”
“What what?” Jilly muttered.
“Why are you staring at me?” Rafe tossed his T-shirt over his shoulder. “Do I have grease all over me? I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t think those shutters have been cleaned in fifty years.”
“Nope. No grease. Not a speck.” Jilly shot a covert glance at Olivia. “Go take Duffy for that run. He’ll love it. Watch the current, though. This time of year that riptide can be dangerous.”
“You think I’d forget that? When I was twelve I almost drowned out there,” Rafe said quietly.
Olivia hadn’t known that story. The tides could change quickly out beyond the cove, and there were danger signs posted all around the island, but occasionally swimmers got cocky. Usually they were vacationing tourists, too excited to be near the water to pay attention to the warnings.
“What happened?” Olivia kept her eyes on his face even though they kept trying to drift south to that hard-muscled chest.
“Usual thing. I thought the signs were for everybody else. Lucky thing a fishing boat picked me up about a mile out. Otherwise my body would have floated all the way to Mexico.”
Olivia shivered. It wasn’t remotely a joke. Knowing Rafe, he had been swimming alone, without telling anyone of his plans. He might have lost consciousness and drifted off, then never been seen again.
Her hands clenched.
“Hey, no worries. I’m fine. It taught me a good lesson. I always read the signs now,” he said with a grin. She felt the warmth of his skin and the heady scent of wind and man and sea.
She tried to pull away, but their fingers brushed when he turned a page of her notebook. “You did these? That one looks like Venice. Is that one a sweater? What are all those crisscross lines?”
Olivia had to clear her throat twice before she could talk. “Cables. It’s a sweater. A sweater pattern. I’m designing it. From memory. It’s something I saw in Venice.”
She bit back the jerky explanations. How did he manage to unravel her this way?
Rafe leaned closer. Olivia saw the glistening line of his shoulder close enough to touch. She smelled his skin, and she wanted to run her hands along that curve of muscle and then her tongue.
“Oh, I get it now. That’s the sleeve. And that top thing is the collar.”
Olivia couldn’t answer. It was taking all her willpower not to lean over and touch his glistening skin.
Jilly cut through the haze of Olivia’s sensual distraction. “I’ve never seen that pattern before, Livie. When did you make it?”
“New
“If you say so.” Jilly leaned closer. “Rafe looks pretty good in that tight black T-shirt. If I didn’t have Walker, I could be very tempted.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. Jilly was never subtle about anything, even when she made a joke. “It’s nice of him to come and help Walker. Any new problems?”
“The upstairs back bathtub is leaking now. Walker went to get caulking and some kind of rubber gaskets this morning. Frankly, I think we should invest in a hardware store of our own.”
Rafe walked up the stairway below the porch, pulling off his black T-shirt as he spoke. “Jilly, can I take Duffy for a run on the beach? I’m pretty sweaty here, despite the chill. I think the two of us need a swim.”
Sweat glistened on his bare chest and slid slowly down his powerful biceps, and Olivia strangled a sigh at the sight of that tanned, rugged body.
The man was drop-dead gorgeous. Didn’t he realize that?
Olivia could hear the sudden drum of her heart. Rafe had always been good to look at. But now, after hard years of exercise and fieldwork, he had a dangerous, lean body that left Olivia wondering what it would be like to set a match to all that hot, dangerous energy and feel it explode.
She coughed hard, angry at the direction her thoughts had taken.
Rafe stared at the two women. “What?”
“What what?” Jilly muttered.
“Why are you staring at me?” Rafe tossed his T-shirt over his shoulder. “Do I have grease all over me? I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t think those shutters have been cleaned in fifty years.”
“Nope. No grease. Not a speck.” Jilly shot a covert glance at Olivia. “Go take Duffy for that run. He’ll love it. Watch the current, though. This time of year that riptide can be dangerous.”
“You think I’d forget that? When I was twelve I almost drowned out there,” Rafe said quietly.
Olivia hadn’t known that story. The tides could change quickly out beyond the cove, and there were danger signs posted all around the island, but occasionally swimmers got cocky. Usually they were vacationing tourists, too excited to be near the water to pay attention to the warnings.
“What happened?” Olivia kept her eyes on his face even though they kept trying to drift south to that hard-muscled chest.
“Usual thing. I thought the signs were for everybody else. Lucky thing a fishing boat picked me up about a mile out. Otherwise my body would have floated all the way to Mexico.”
Olivia shivered. It wasn’t remotely a joke. Knowing Rafe, he had been swimming alone, without telling anyone of his plans. He might have lost consciousness and drifted off, then never been seen again.
Her hands clenched.
“Hey, no worries. I’m fine. It taught me a good lesson. I always read the signs now,” he said with a grin. She felt the warmth of his skin and the heady scent of wind and man and sea.
She tried to pull away, but their fingers brushed when he turned a page of her notebook. “You did these? That one looks like Venice. Is that one a sweater? What are all those crisscross lines?”
Olivia had to clear her throat twice before she could talk. “Cables. It’s a sweater. A sweater pattern. I’m designing it. From memory. It’s something I saw in Venice.”
She bit back the jerky explanations. How did he manage to unravel her this way?
Rafe leaned closer. Olivia saw the glistening line of his shoulder close enough to touch. She smelled his skin, and she wanted to run her hands along that curve of muscle and then her tongue.
“Oh, I get it now. That’s the sleeve. And that top thing is the collar.”
Olivia couldn’t answer. It was taking all her willpower not to lean over and touch his glistening skin.
Jilly cut through the haze of Olivia’s sensual distraction. “I’ve never seen that pattern before, Livie. When did you make it?”
“New
Similar Books
