Read Online Speechless (Pier 70 #3) by Nicole Edwards - Free Book Online

sack and Teague would get bored.
    Doubtful but possible.
    “If we get any more appointments, you’ll be the first one I call.” Cam’s gruff voice interrupted Teague’s thoughts, pulling him back to the moment.
    “Awesome. Thanks.”
    Shaking himself out of his weird mood, Teague left Cam and took his time as he made his way down to the dock. He wanted to give Dare a few minutes to share his news with Hudson. Standing around and watching Dare’s excitement would’ve made Teague a little uncomfortable.
    He’d managed to keep busy stacking rope for a good ten minutes when he saw Dare walking back to the main office. At that point, Teague headed over to the boat repair shop. With every step, he felt his tension increase. He wasn’t excited about having to see Hudson face-to-face, or talk to him, or work with him, either. Sometimes the shop didn’t feel big enough to house them both safely. And the place was actually pretty big.
    It was nothing more than a giant steel building with one huge bay door that faced the water, allowing them to bring boats right in when necessary, or for customers to pull them around via the parking lot. On the left side of the building, a paint booth had been installed. Hudson’s little side business of painting boats was evidently doing pretty well. Inside the building were tools galore, along with several industrial-sized fans, lifts, racks, engine stands, and all the other equipment used to repair motors and fiberglass.
    At some point last year, Hudson had divided the shop more evenly so that Teague had his own space, which allowed them to divvy up the jobs. He wasn’t as adept as Hudson in everything, but he was a quick learner, so generally, it only took him studying Hudson for a bit to catch on to something. All in all, he loved the work; it was the company he had some issues with.
    When he stepped into the building, Teague glanced around, searching for Hudson as was normal for him. He was always aware of the guy. Always. And ever since that night on the boat… God, he had such a hard time thinking about that night without a foreign sense of anticipation filling him. He had yet to broach the subject with Hudson, and at this point, with a week having passed since the offer, he wasn’t even sure if he could accept now. The only good thing—if it could even be considered that—was that he hadn’t had a single drink in almost seven full days.
    Now, he wouldn’t go so far as to say he was an alcoholic, but he couldn’t deny that he used alcohol to numb himself. It’d been a crutch for a long time, one that wasn’t easy to kick, but he’d managed.
    Hudson stepped out of the small office, his gaze zeroing in on Teague instantly. He felt the intensity radiating from Hudson, something that wasn’t new, nor was it unfamiliar, but it hit him the same as it always did. Whenever they were in the same room—especially when they were alone—Teague felt like Hudson was a jungle cat and he was the prey. As though any second now, he was going to be pounced on. Only that had never happened.
    And when Hudson turned around and returned to the office, effectively brushing him off, Teague didn’t think today was going to be any different.
    Except maybe it was, because for the first time all week, he felt the anger begin to bubble up from within. And it looked as though Hudson was about to be his outlet.

    HUDSON HAD HEARD someone enter the shop, which was the reason he stepped out of the office to check it out. Sometimes customers wandered in, and he made a point to keep an eye out for them, although greeting them was sometimes uncomfortable. There was a white board on the wall near the office, which he used from time to time to communicate. It stated that Hudson could hear but couldn’t speak, because that seemed to be the easiest way to get the news out there. No sense in trying to pretend otherwise.
    Most of the time, Teague dealt directly with the people when they arrived, but there were