Hoping for Love Read Free

is. My boyfriend—no wait, that’s giving him too much credit. My
date
for the evening left me here alone with no money, no clothes, nowhere to stay.”
    He stared at her. “What do you mean he left you?”
    “I mean he took off on his fancy boat with all my stuff.” She held up her cell phone. “Except for this, which is of no use to me whatsoever, since anyone who could rescue me is on the mainland.”
    “Wow, what an asshole.”
    “Ya think?”
    He pushed his beer across the table. “You need that more than I do.”
    She gratefully reached for the bottle and took a drink. The first sip went down so well, she took a second. “Do you have a name?”
    “Evan McCarthy.”
    “Any relation?” she asked, gesturing to the marina sign.
    “My folks.”
    “Nice place.”
    “We like it.”
    “You’re good—at the singing and stuff.”
    He flashed a devastating grin, complete with sexy dimples. Life was so unfair. “Gee, thanks.”
    “Your friend is getting ready to start again. Shouldn’t you be up there?”
    Crooking a rakish eyebrow, he said, “Trying to get rid of me?”
    Heat flooded Grace’s face, forcing her to look away from him. “I don’t want to keep you from your work.”
    He shrugged. “Owen can cope without me for a bit.” Propping his elbows on the table, he leaned in closer to her. “So what’re we going to do about this dilemma of yours?”
    “It’s certainly nothing you need to worry about. I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to do anything about it.”
    “Now that I know, I can’t
not
help you.”
    “That’s a double negative,” she said primly and then wanted to shoot herself for sounding like such a prude. Old habits died hard. It occurred to her that pre-weight loss, a man like Evan McCarthy never would’ve bothered to speak to her, let alone offer to help her.
    His ringing laughter warmed her, even though she knew that being sucked in by yet another smooth-talking charmer wasn’t in her best interest. “Are you a teacher or something?”
    “Or something. Pharmacist.”
    He screwed his face into a serious expression. “A very smart profession.”
    “I guess,” she said with a shrug. “I’m not feeling very smart at the moment.”
    “What’s your name?”
    “Grace.”
    “Nice to meet you, Grace. Where’re you from?”
    “Mystic, Connecticut.”
    “Ah, nice place,” he said. “Here’s what I think we ought to do. I have another couple of hours to go here, and then I could take you home to my folks’ place up the hill. My sister’s old room is empty since she’s off on her honeymoon—not that she lives at home anymore. I’m sure we can find an old T-shirt of hers or something for you to sleep in. Tomorrow, I’ll get you to the ferry landing so you can catch a ride home. Would that work?”
    Grace stared at him, stunned. “I can’t just go
home
with you.”
    “My parents are there,” he said, flashing the dimples again. They were good dimples. Very good dimples. “We’ll be fully chaperoned.”
    “That’s not what I mean. I can’t—”
    He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. “You’re in a pinch. People on the island help each other out when someone finds themselves in a pinch. It’s really no big deal, okay?”
    With the heat of his hand demanding her full attention, Grace was powerless to resist the help he offered so freely. “Thank you,” she said softly.
    “No problem.” He squeezed her hand and released it. “I’ll meet you right here when I’m done, okay?”
    Since she had absolutely nowhere else to be, she said, “Okay.”
     
    On his way back to join Owen on the stage, Evan stopped one of the waitresses. “See the woman sitting by herself in the corner? Could you keep her in food and drinks for the rest of the night?”
    “Sure, Evan, no problem.”
    “Put it on my tab.”
    “You got it.”
    “Thanks.”
    Owen, who had started the next set on his own, sent Evan an arch look as he strapped on his