Read Online Seeing Stars by Vanessa Grant - Free Book Online Page A

her when she stood back, looking at it doubtfully. "Without protection, the rot would be eating that hull within months of her being launched. We'll put two more coats on over the next few days, then she'll be ready for painting."
    She supposed he knew what he was doing, but it seemed a pity to mar such beautiful wood with this thin, smelly green substance.
    "I'll show you how to get the mess off." Blake took her to the back where Tim and Jake were scrubbing their arms with solvent. When she saw their greenish hands, she was glad Blake had insisted she wear gloves for the job.
    Tim turned to Jake when he'd finished. "You want a ride?"
    Jake shrugged, which Tim apparently translated as a yes .
    "Tomorrow at nine," said Blake. "The preservative needs forty-eight hours to dry, so we'll get in four hours on the interior tomorrow, then you two can have the rest of the day for yourselves."
    "Right," said Tim, but Jake just shrugged.
    When the boys were gone, Claire shucked her coveralls and hung them beside the others. 
    "Thanks, Blake. It's been quite a day."
    "Teak dust and preservative. One hell of a first date."
    "An education, and I won lunch." 
    He was dressed in stained coveralls, and the atmosphere could hardly be less romantic, but they were alone, the boys gone, and earlier he'd kissed her to within an inch of her life.
    "Is there a hot tub at that resort?" he asked.
    She nodded.
    "Get in it as soon as you get back. Have a good soak, then go to bed for a couple of hours. Another soak when you get up wouldn't hurt at all, and if they've got a masseuse, that wouldn't be a bad idea either."
    She picked up her jacket and purse. "You're afraid I'll be too crippled to dance? I'm not much of a dancer anyway."
    "Tonight you will be. I'll pick you up at seven."
    "What about you? Will you have a hot tub and a massage?" She flushed as she said the words, caught by an image of Blake face down on a massage table, completely naked.
    "I'm used to this. You're not."
    He might be used to it, but she realized that he wasn't comfortable about her pitching in this afternoon. He might be an expert at romance, but he didn't know everything about this particular woman.

Chapter Five
     

     
    She called the resort office and succeeded in booking a massage with someone named Renee at four-thirty, then grabbed her bathing suit and a towel and headed for the hot tub. Two hours later, she figured she hadn't a bone left in her body, but she'd dozed on the massage table, and Renee's probing seemed to have released most of the tension.
    She might have wimped out of the reunion banquet last night, ducking out at the first opportunity, but today she'd impressed a tattooed teenage ruffian with her ability to do fine sanding, and she'd surprised Blake McKenzie.
    She figured they were almost even now. She didn't know how to cope with flirting and kisses, and he wasn't quite sure how to cope with a woman who picked up a sanding block and a paintbrush full of stinky green preservative.
    She knew a lot more about him than she had twenty-four hours ago. He had a passion for hard work, building fast boats, and tangling with tough kids. As for the kiss... well, he'd taken her by surprise. Next time she'd be prepared. She'd enjoy it, but she wouldn't lose her footing.
    The phone rang as she came back into the condo after her massage. She picked it up, pleased to hear Jennifer's voice.
    "Did you go to the reunion thing last night?" Jenn demanded.
    "Yes, Mother, and tonight I'm going to the dance with that bad boy you suggested I have an affair with."
    Silence.
    "What's his name?"
    "Blake, but most people call him Mac."
    "You do have condoms in your purse?"
    "Jennifer! We're going to a dance. A public dance."
    Jenn snorted. "Do you know what they call a woman as naive as you?"
    Claire thought of the kiss, of the insane deal they'd made last night.
    "What do they call a naive woman?"
    "Pregnant."
    She laughed. "All right, Jenn. I'll be careful."
    "What do you know