Read Online The First Man You Meet by Debbie Macomber - Free Book Online

they could figure out what had brought them both to a lonely stretch of beach two hours out of Seattle, they might be able to make sense of how they’d happened upon each other a third time.
    ‘‘I have a beach house here. After tax time I generally try to get away for a few days, to come down here and relax.’’
    ‘‘I had no idea.’’ She found it inordinately important that he understand she hadn’t somehow managed to stalk him across the state. Their meeting was pure coincidence…again.
    ‘‘Don’t worry about it, Shelly. You couldn’t possibly have known about the beach house or that I intended to be here today. I didn’t know it myself until this morning.’’
    Shelly suddenly wished that Mark hadn’t kissed her. Everything was becoming far too complicated now.
    ‘‘You’re very talented,’’ he told her out of the blue. ‘‘I bought one of your videos the other day.’’
    ‘‘How did you know what I do?’’ Shelly felt flustered by his praise; she was at a complete loss to understand why it meant so much to her.
    ‘‘I saw it on the income tax form and I was curious about your work.’’
    ‘‘Curiosity seems to have gotten us both into a great deal of trouble,’’ she said.
    Mark grinned, a shameless irresistible grin. The kind of grin that makes a woman forget all sorts of things. Like the fact that he was practically engaged. And that he was a tall, blue-eyed stranger who, according to Aunt Milly’s letter, would soon become her husband.…
    Shelly scrambled to her feet, hurrying toward the beach. Mark followed.
    ‘‘You shouldn’t look at me like that,’’ she said, her voice soft and bewildered.
    ‘‘You said it was just a kiss. Was it?’’
    ‘‘Yes,’’ she boldly lied. ‘‘How could it be anything more?’’
    ‘‘You tell me.’’
    Shelly had no answers to give him.
    ‘‘While you’re at it, explain why we keep bumping into each other or why I can’t stop thinking about you.’’
    ‘‘You can’t?’’ She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, either, but she wasn’t ready to admit it.
    ‘‘No.’’ He stood behind her, his hands caressing her shoulders. Leisurely he stroked the length of her arms. His touch was so light that she thought she was imagining it, and she felt both excited and afraid.
    He turned her around and gazed at her lips. ‘‘If that was just a run-of-the-mill kiss, then why do I feel the need to do it again?’’
    ‘‘I don’t know.’’
    His lips brushed hers. Briefly, with a whisper-soft touch, as though he was testing her response. Shelly closed her eyes and moaned. She didn’t want to feel any of this. They were so far apart, such different people. Besides, he was involved with another woman and she was involved with her career.
    When the kiss ended and he slowly released her, it was all Shelly could do to keep from sinking to the sand. ‘‘I have…to get back to Seattle,’’ she managed to say, backing away from him. She turned and took four or five wobbly steps before she realized she was headed toward the Pacific Ocean.
    ‘‘Shelly?’’
    ‘‘Yes?’’
    ‘‘Seattle is due north. If you continue going west, you’ll eventually land in Hawaii.’’
    ‘‘Oh, yeah, right,’’ she mumbled, reversing her direction abruptly, eager now to escape.
    T HE FIRST PERSON Shelly called when she got home was Jill. ‘‘Can you come over?’’ Shelly asked without preamble. She could barely keep the panic out of her voice.
    ‘‘Sure, what’s wrong?’’
    ‘‘I saw Mark again.’’
    ‘‘And?’’
    ‘‘Let me put it like this. We kissed and I haven’t stopped trembling since.’’
    Jill’s romantic sigh came over the receiver as her breath softly caught. ‘‘This I’ve got to hear. I’ll be there in ten minutes.’’
    Actually it was closer to seven minutes. Shelly hadn’t stopped pacing from the moment she got off the phone. She checked her watch repeatedly, waiting desperately