When It's Love Read Free Page B

either. Yes, I’ll be right there. I'm at the ferry terminal, so it will be less than ten minutes.”
    As she slipped her phone back into her pocket, Rachel looked over at him. “It’s Charlotte. She’s sick, and I have to go pick her up at school immediately. Which means we’re really going to have to hurry so that I can drop you off at Grams’ place on the way.”
    “There’s no need to do that,” Nicholas said. It was obvious how much Rachel wanted to get to her daughter, and he couldn't stand the thought of a sick little girl shivering in the school office as she waited for her mother to come get her. “Just take me along with you.”
    “Take you with me?” She looked more than a little stunned by his suggestion. “I'm sure you don’t want to be around a sick child.”
    “Why not?” He'd already decided that he would take more time with Rachel any way he could get it. “Especially if it will work out better for you to head straight there.”
    Apart from her little girl getting sick, it seemed that everything really was working out. He’d already had a great ferry ride over to the island, seen a couple of whales, met the most beautiful woman on the island, and now he was getting to spend more time in her company. What could be better than that?
    Though she was still clearly surprised by his offer to go pick up her daughter together, a moment later she finally smiled and said, “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”
    Nicholas had seen many beautiful things in his travels, but he'd never seen anything as pretty as Rachel's smile.

CHAPTER THREE
     
    Nicholas quickly tied the surfboard into place on the roof of Rachel's car with some bungee cords and rope that he pulled out of his bag. While he worked, she thought about all the places he must have been with this surfboard. Hawaii, Brazil and hundreds of beaches around the world. Places she’d always wanted to go...but once she had Charlotte, traveling to new places, and seeking out new adventures, wasn't at the top of her list anymore. Not even close.
    “That should be secure enough,” he said as he finally stepped back from the car. “I know you're anxious to pick up your daughter.”
    “How quickly can I drive without worrying that it will slide off?”
    “We should be just fine. Unless you're planning on doing some white-knuckle stunt driving,” he teased.
    Rachel was surprised that he would even suggest that about her. Didn't he see what everyone else did? The staid and steady single mom. The woman who did the right thing—the safe thing—all the time.
    Or was it possible that he could see the glimmer of the girl she used to be? Wild...and more than a little unruly and adventurous.
    Shaking off her thoughts of the past, she got into the car and buckled up, waiting until Nicholas did the same before setting off through town.
    As they made their way up along one of the winding roads, Nicholas said, “Walker Island looks like a really great place.”
    “It's a fairly quiet island,” she said, already distracted enough by trying to concentrate on the road rather than on the gorgeous profile of the man sitting next to her without trying to make sparkling conversation, too. Did Nicholas have to go around being that good-looking? Rachel knew all too well just how many accidents were caused every year by distracted driving.
    “Something tells me,” he replied in a deep voice that made her more than a little melty in all the places she hadn't so much as felt warm these past few years, “that things will be exciting enough for me here, even if I don't parachute out of a helicopter the way one of the TV producers was suggesting.”
    “Are you really thinking of doing that?” Just thinking of what it would be like to jump out of a helicopter over the island with a parachute on her back sent a rush of adrenaline through Rachel.
    “Actually, I was planning to stick to aquatic pursuits, but now that you mention it, that would probably be one heck of a