Read Online Finding Love in Forgotten Cove (Island County Series Book 1) by Karice Bolton - Free Book Online Page A

I hope to be that person,” Mason replied, turning to analyze my reaction.
    “You want to buy this house?”
    “That is my hope. I fell in love with it the moment I came down the driveway.”
    “So why wouldn’t you wait to do all the renovations after you own it? You’re only driving up the price you’ll have to pay for it. Or is that where the strings are attached?”
    “My life has had quite a few ups and downs and I’ve seen karma do a number on some close friends. I have to live with who I am as a person. I don’t think it would be very honorable of me to walk in here with the full intention of buying this place and then do nothing to increase the value. You brought me into this project to help you sell the home. It’s not your fault I happen to be the one who also wants to buy it. And besides, I also happen to think you might fall in love with this place enough to not want to sell it. I’d like to make it as nice as possible for either outcome…just in case you want to stay on the island after all.”
    I studied Mason as I tried to dissect what he was telling me.
    “And how would that work for you? We do all this work and you pour all this time into my home and then you don’t get it at the end of it all?”
    “Well, getting to spend time with you might very well be worth it.” He winked and I melted, but I knew he was well seasoned with the one-liners. He had to be. “And I have one other request.”
    “Yeah?”
    “My parents always hold a huge family barbeque in the middle of summer and I need a date.”
    “A date? Somehow I don’t think you’d have a problem in that area. Just show up at the high school and you’ll have your pick of any teacher there.”
    “I don’t want any teacher, I want you to accompany me. It would be a nice change to bring someone.”
    “Gabby will be there,” he offered, after a few seconds of silence on my part.
    I twisted my lips pretending as if I wouldn’t love to spend an evening with him before I finally answered.
    “So why do you need a date for a family barbeque?”
    “I don’t, but like I said, it would be nice.”
    “And?” I knew there was more here if I could get him to share.
    “It’s complicated. Let’s just say it would be great to have someone with me while I’m thrown into a mix of couples chatting about things that couples talk about. It’s really not my idea of a great time to be surrounded by couples staring longingly into one another’s eyes.”
    “Wow. What a way to sell it.” I grinned. “But you can count me in. It’s the least I can do.”
    “My family is pretty cool. Amazing, actually. Unfortunately, my parents set the bar impossibly high.”
    His admission made my heart stand still.
    “I know the feeling.”
    “When you have parents who are so intertwined…” His eyes glinted with curiosity.
    “They finish one another’s sentences,” I interjected.
    Mason’s smile widened. “Yeah. They would rather spend an evening at home together than vacation on a tropical island apart. True story. My mom turned down a totally paid-for vacation to Turks and Caicos because she’d rather spend her free time at home with my dad. Can you believe it?”
    I shook my head and saw the admiration in Mason’s eyes, as well as the realization that love like that was nearly impossible to find.
    “It doesn’t help that both of my siblings have found that very same kind of love. I’m the odd man out.”
    “So you’d like us to be the odd man and woman out?”
    “Something like that.”
    “Well, I can also tell you that you’re in the lead for purchasing this home. I know you’ll make it beautiful, but I really don’t want any part of it…too many memories in the walls of this place for me. Anyway, your work won’t be for nothing.”
    He bit his lip and his eyes stayed on mine. I had often wondered if true love like my parents had existed anywhere else—making me question the accuracy of my memories—but as my gaze connected