Invitation to Love Read Free Page A

back. People of all shapes and sizes wandered up and down the summery
beach. Mothers and fathers with their tots swinging in between them; Single
people out to attract and reel in their catch. She looked over in time to see
the teen-aged blonde in the blue-checkered bikini cause a sequential bump among
her five friends when she came to a dead halt upon noticing Michael. A chorus
of whispered “Ooohs” followed the moment she pointed him out. Taryn felt the
sting of their inspection when they focused on her. The one with the ponytail,
and way too much pink lip gloss, giggled in her hand before nudging the
giggling others on in their search. The sound of her name broke through her
wondering why she should feel put-off by that display.
    “I’m
sorry, Michael, did you say something?”
    “I
asked if you and the girls would have dinner with me tonight.”
    The
question caught her off-guard, erasing every excuse she was suddenly thinking
of.
    “I
could use the company. The thought of eating alone is not something I look
forward to—which is what I’ve been doing for the entire week.”
    Tried
as she might, her barren mind just wouldn’t cooperate with a viable excuse.
Granted, he’s nice—very nice. And, it feels good to have someone to talk to on
a grown-up level. But, he’s also good-looking, shoot, downright gorgeous.
Something she noticed the moment she saw him. With those big eyes and long
lashes; The way his lips curve handsomely, especially when he smiles. Not to
mention the rest of him. Surely finding company for dinner would be no problem
for him. And, if she said yes, then she’d have to act all calm and not give him
the slightest inkling that she’s attracted to him. Men like him can easily pick
up on that.
    “Remi
would love the idea,” he said to her obvious stalling. “Since, and these are
her words, I’m the nicest man she’s ever met next to her granddad. And, it
would be ample compensation for the loss of my sunglasses. My favorite ones, I
might add.”
    Her
anxious nerves suddenly channeled through her laughter.
    “Seems
I made my case,” he said with that charming twist to his mouth.
    “If
you’re going to use blackmail, then I guess I have no other choice but to
comply.”
    “Great.
Where are you staying?”
    Taryn
wondered if that look of content on his face was as genuine as the joy she
felt. “We’re at the Bay Inn South. It’s pass the toll bridge off Highway
Nineteen.”
    “I’m
here on the beach,” he pointed down to the gray resort building of balconies
and glass doors overlooking the ocean.
    “Well,
if we’re going out for a change, I’d better get the girls back to the hotel so
they can rest up.”
    She
called to Remi and Rachel, and he helped her gather up her things. While they
stood discarding the trash, the girls took one last look at the ocean.
    “That’s
enough sentimental good-byes. I thought you were getting sick of the ocean,”
Taryn reminded them. “Come on.”
    “See
you tonight,” he said through her car window, then waved them off.
    “This
heat is killing me,” Remi slumped against the door on her side of the car in
the back seat.
    Taryn
wiped the sweat away from her forehead and glanced at her daughter through the
rearview mirror. “It’s killing us all, Remi. You should be used to this by
now.”
    The
car’s air conditioner wheezed into oblivion the first day she tried to use it. She
thought it would be too much trouble to take it all the way back and exchange
it for another vehicle. Now she’s sitting in it, sweating with regret.
    “How
come we always have to wait in this hot sun for those stupid boats to go by?”
she scoffed again.
    Taryn
sighed at the long line of cars waiting for the toll bridge to let down so they
could move on. Vapors from the pavement rose to the white-hot sun.
    “Mummie,”
Rachel called from her side of the back seat.  “Are we going out to eat with
Michael tonight?”
    “We
sure are.”
    “Yaaay,”
the girls