Sunshine Beach Read Free Page B

slice of South Beach now twinkling in the distance. She smiled her thanks as he pulled out a chair for her, then watched him sit across from her. When he’d first started dogging her on the beach at Bella Flora during his hunt for her brother, she’d had no idea that his stern good looks hid a warm and generous heart. Joe Giraldi was full of surprises, most of them good.
    She took another sip of her wine hoping it would calm her.
    â€œAre you sure you’re feeling okay?” he asked.
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    Although he read faces for a living, Joe didn’t call her on the lie. And he was far too much a gentleman to bring up her appalling lack of direction since
Do Over
had come to such a horrible end.
    She still ran daily and continued to hunt down and eradicate the gray hairs that tried to infiltrate her auburn hair, but she could no longer afford the physical “tweaks” that had once seemed so important. Most of her vintage designerwardrobe had been sold. The only remaining luxury from her previous life was the classic Jag, the first expensive thing she’d bought for herself. They’d have to pry the keys out of her cold, dead fingers.
    The breeze was soft and warm. The blue sky had begun to pale. She drew in a deep breath of salt-tinged air and instructed herself to pay attention and enjoy the moment. Tomorrow she’d make the four-and-a-half-hour drive to Bella Flora midway up the west coast of Florida. There she, Maddie, Avery, and Kyra would deal with their new reality.
    â€œHow long do you think you’ll stay in Pass-a-Grille?” Joe asked, seemingly reading the turn her thoughts had taken.
    â€œI don’t know. I guess until we figure out what, if anything, we’re going to do about
Do Over
.” They’d all been licking their wounds to varying degrees since September. It was now the beginning of May, time to either move forward together or separate to follow their own paths. Maddie and Avery had become close friends, the first real friends Nikki had ever had. Would that friendship survive if they let go of the show? And what exactly would she do for a living if that happened?
    â€œYou know you don’t have to do anything until you’re ready,” Joe said quietly, once again seeming to tap into her thoughts. “You can just stay here and ‘be.’”
    â€œBe what?” she asked.
    â€œBe with me. Relax. I don’t know. Clearly, watching and starring on reality TV hasn’t made you happy. I don’t imagine you’d be any happier eating bonbons and watching soap operas?”
    â€œYou mean as opposed to living one?” she asked.
    White teeth flashed. “Seriously, Nikki. You’ve got money from your portion of the sale of Bella Flora if you insist on continuing to pay your own way. Or you can let me take care of things while you write your story and set the record straight before your brother has a chance to put his version out there. Maybe that would help you move on. So that we can get married.”
    She turned her attention to the Caesar salad he’d prepared. Malcolm had petitioned for the right to accept a hefty advance for his story, money he claimed would go to the investors he’d bilked. A move possibly meant to impress a parole board, though she doubted that money would ever make it to his victims.
    She chewed carefully, aware of Joe’s eyes on her. He was right about her being stuck. But the idea of sitting back and letting Joe or anyone else take care of her, well, it would never work. And as for marriage, she loved him too much to deprive him of what he deserved—a far less jaded woman whose eggs had not yet expired and who could give him the children he wanted.
    She looked up into Joe’s intelligent brown eyes and read the sincerity in them. She’d hit the relationship jackpot and could not in all conscience cash in her chips.
    She set her fork down. “I’ve been