Read Online Crazy Ever After by Kelly Jamieson - Free Book Online

around on your plate, just like you did last night.”
    She laid her knife and fork on the plate, rested her hands on her lap and gave him a heated you-can’t-tell-me-what-to-do look up through her long eyelashes.
    “You’re too skinny,” he added, and her eyes widened.
    “I am not skinny!”
    He raked his gaze over her. She looked hot as hell, but it was better to insult her than to let on how goddamn gorgeous he thought she was. Her cheeks grew pink under his appraisal. He shrugged. “You look skinny to me.”
    Her lips pressed together, and her eyes flashed gold sparks. “Well, thanks so much. Good thing I don’t give a shit what you think.”
    “Samara!” Dayna’s eyes moved back and forth between them, her mouth open. “That was rude!”
    Samara brushed her long bangs aside. “I’m being rude? I’m not the one making rude comments about how bad I look.”
    Travis sighed and opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could, Samara rose from the table and tossed her napkin down. “You know, since I don’t seem to have much appetite, there’s not much point in me sitting here.” She left the room.
    Travis met Dayna’s gaze and grimaced. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have pushed her buttons.”
    Dayna looked back at him searchingly. “No, you shouldn’t have,” she agreed, her voice soft. “You know how contrary she can be. And she’s not exactly in a good place right now. This isn’t a good time for any of us.”
    Dayna’s patience and understanding made him feel like shit. “I know.” He looked down at his plate, his appetite gone too. “I’ll go talk to her. After dinner.”
    Dayna nodded slowly, still looking at him quizzically. So much for the avuncular keeping-his-distance plan.

Chapter Six
     
     
    Samara stalked through the den and outside onto the patio, far enough away from the kitchen that they couldn’t see her, a string of curses trying to escape her mouth. Damn him!
    Why did he get to her so much? Why did he refuse to see that she was an adult now who could help with the business? Why had his comment about how skinny she was hurt so much? Why wasn’t she over him? This was ridiculous!
    She couldn’t stay here. Not with them.
    She sank down onto the wicker swing, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The thick cushion absorbed her weight, far nicer than the one that had been there when she was a child. She gave a gentle push with both feet and started rocking, the movement rhythmic and calming. The cool night air brushed over her bare skin with a touch of dampness. The quiet and peace settled around her, the only noise a faint squeak of the swing and a distant chirruping of crickets. After a few moments, her heart rate had slowed, and her breathing evened out. She sighed.
    Her father was gone, and she couldn’t get him back. Planning his funeral made it all more real. Being here with her mother and Travis was driving her crazy. For all these years she’d carried this hurt around inside her. She’d hoped, with all the time that had passed, it would be easier, but it wasn’t.
    She looked up at the sky. The setting sun brushed the clouds with peach and rose, the sky shades of lilac. She would just have to go stay at a hotel. She’d deal with the funeral arrangements, get this ordeal over with, and then get the hell back to San Francisco.
    In the den, a dark figure appeared at the doors then stepped outside. Travis.
    His face was somber, his mouth a straight slash, his square jaw tense.
    “Hey,” he said, hands in the pockets of the jeans he’d changed into, shoulders raised. Mother of Godfrey, the man looked good in a pair of jeans. His T-shirt clung to his wide shoulders, muscled chest and flat stomach, just meeting the low-slung, softly faded jeans.
    She turned her head away from him.
    He walked across the patio to the low stone wall that ran along one edge. Big clay pots overflowing with flowers sat beside it. The landscape lights in the garden