Read Online Take Me All the Way by Toni Blake - Free Book Online Page A

the way over on his tailgate.
    â€œI didn’t mind it so much,” he added when she didn’t reply.
    â€œThat was clear,” she quipped, not wanting to let him think he was getting the upper hand. “And yes, it was extremely unpleasant.”
    As usual, though, he just laughed. “Why’s that, prin– . . . Tamra?”
    She raised her eyebrows. Was he seriously asking her? She’d met his gaze, but now looked away. “Well, I don’t even know you, and I don’t lie around with men I don’t know.”
    â€œBut if you knew me you would?” Another grin through that beard.
    She prayed he couldn’t see the heat rising to her cheeks, or that he would mistake it for a touch of color from the sun. “No! You’re not . . . not . . .”
    â€œNot what?”
    Did the man never stop? Well, fine, she’d just be direct, too. He was asking for it anyway. “My type,” she said. “You’re not my type.”
    He appeared completely undaunted as he asked, “What’s your type?”
    So she tried to keep being honest. “Well—not so much of this,” she said, motioning around her head with her hands, meaning he had too much hair for her taste. “Or this.” She motioned to her chin, meaning his beard. “And I like men who are nicer, and more polite—two things you seriously have working against you.” She ended with a brisk nod, just to drive the point home and make sure he knew exactly how much she was not into him.
    And she supposed it shouldn’t have surprised her when he simply laughed in reply, but it still did.
    So she heard herself ask, “What’s so funny?”
    â€œMethinks the lady doth protest too much,” he said, still looking amused.
    And her jaw dropped. “You’re quoting Shakespeare now?”
    He lifted one hand, used his index finger to point at his head, and let his eyes grow big. “Like I said,” he told her, “lot going on up here, sister.”
    Tamra rolled her eyes once more. “That’s another thing I am not. Your sister.”
    â€œDon’t worry,” Jeremy said, one more small, bold grin unfurling across his hairy face, “I could never confuse you with my sister. Because I would never like lying on top of my sister so much.”
    T AMRA couldn’t deny feeling a little emotionally disheveled by the time she sent Mr. Scruffy Beard off to Home Depot to buy the supplies needed to start the golf hut. She almost wondered if she should think twice about handing him the credit card Cami had issued her for such things—he was such an unknown quantity in ways, and so far he didn’t exactly come across as a fine, upstanding citizen. But the whole encounter with him had her so flustered that she’d have probably handed him her own credit card just to get rid of him for a while.
    As she watched him drive off in the old red pickup in need of a muffler, her heartbeat slowed. And life began to seem normal again. The beach lay serene in the distance as families and couples began to dot the sand now that the sun had risen higher in the sky. A seabird cawed as it flew by overhead. Coral Cove wasat peace, and so was she. But that was a far cry from how she’d felt while caught in a verbal sparring match with Jeremy Sheridan. Not to mention when he’d been lying on top of her.
    Ready to push the whole incident from her mind, she crossed the street and walked toward the Hungry Fisherman, visible in the distance. Yes, talk to other people, clear your head. That’s a good idea. Any distraction at all from what had just transpired seemed wise.
    As she approached, she found Polly sitting at a table on the patio with Cami and Reece. All of them smiled at her—too boldly.
    â€œUm, hi,” she said, wondering why they all wore goofy grins.
    â€œThat was a nice show there,” Polly said.
    Oh crap.
    â€œMaybe a little early in