Love on the Rocks Read Free Page A

misty-eyed over this old coot. I knew the stakes and I knew how much your mother loved your father and he loved her. I only wanted her to be happy.” He turned with the big bag of trash. “Enough about me. You need to get on with your life. Don’t waste it working yourself to death in this bar.” He turned back and gave her one of his sternest looks. “And don’t think you’re not worthy of love because of what happened. You have a lot to offer. Don’t sell yourself short.”
    Still stunned by Frank’s revelation, she gave him a watery smile and popped a salute that would have made her father proud. “Yes, sir.”
    His frown deepened. “And don’t call me sir. I work for a living.” Frank exited through the back door, carrying the bag.
    With a lot on her mind, Roxi trudged up the steps to her apartment over the bar where she was greeted by a wiggling, happy Otis, the one hundred twenty pound German Shepherd Frank had given her when she’d moved out on her own, taking up residence over the bar. He’d been trained by one of Frank’s old Army buddies who’d been a dog handler in the military police.
    Otis waited patiently while she snapped on his leash and picked up her heavy flashlight, the one she carried for protection, more than for illuminating her way. She rarely used it unless the night was cloudy. Roxi never felt in danger as long as Otis was around. Without him, she probably wouldn’t step outside in the dark.
    Fortunately, the moon shone brightly and she could see as clearly as if it were the middle of the day.
    She set out along the sand, unclipping Otis’s leash as soon as she passed the pier. Otis shot ahead, chasing waves along the shoreline. He loved the water and the beach as much as Roxi. He circled back behind her and chased a crab that ultimately buried itself in the wet sand. Not to be deterred, Otis dug into the sand, spewing it out behind him.
    Roxi laughed and kept walking.
    A figure detached itself from the stilts of a beach house ahead and walked across the sand to the edge of the water.
    By size and the breadth of his shoulders, Roxi guessed the figure to be a man, and not just any man, but the one who’d been on her mind more and more with each passing day—John Decker.
    Her heartbeat skittered against her ribs and she slowed to a stop, her bare toes curling in the wet sand.
    Decker’s face remained turned toward the sea and he wore nothing but a pair of shorts or swim trunks. Moonlight glimmered off his naked chest, turning into a silvery blue. As he walked toward the water his pace increased until he ran into the surf lapping against the shore.
    What was he doing? The tide report indicated the water wasn’t safe with the coming storm churning the sea.
    Decker struck out, swimming hard out to sea. His arms sliced through the water, powering him farther away from shore, closer and closer to the area known for its wicked riptide.
    “Decker!” Roxi ran toward the point at which he’d entered the water and waved. “Decker! Come back!”
    Either he was ignoring her shouts or he couldn’t hear them with his head in the water, because he continued on his race toward a potentially deadly situation.
    “Decker!” Roxi glanced to the right and left. The lifeguard towers were on the other side of the pier, too far to go for a life preserver.
    Decker was too far out to hear her voice. If she could get close enough to warn him he might have a chance to turn around before he got sucked out even further by a riptide. Roxi waded into the water, her pulse pounding her stomach knotted. She was a good swimmer, having lived the last fourteen years on the cape. She knew how to ride the tide into shore, but even she wasn’t naive enough to swim in riptide situations.
    Cupping her hands around her mouth, Roxi shouted again.
    Decker’s arms slowed and he glided to a stop.
    Roxi gathered another breath.
    The dark head, now only a speck on the ocean disappeared.
    “Decker?” she whispered, her