Free Kiss of a Stranger (Lost Coast Harbor #1) by Lily Danes, Eve Kincaid

buffoon who complained because his silver spoon was a little bent.
    Oliver tipped his glass to him, acknowledging the polite deflection. “What can you do? He’s family.”
    Someone across the hall waved to Oliver. He excused himself, leaving Gabe alone with uncomfortable thoughts.
    Like the possibility Oliver wasn’t the only Hastings Gabe should be considering.
    It stung to think he’d been wrong for so many years. The man was the CEO of the damn company. In charge of everything that went in or out of Lost Coast. He had his perfectly manicured fingers in every part of the Hastings pie.
    He also acted like one of the nicest guys Gabe had ever met.
    Gabe had despised Oliver too long to believe him innocent, not without compelling proof. But Gabe needed to know what part Hastings Sr. played in the company—and he was standing in the middle of the guy’s house. It wouldn’t hurt to have a look around while he had the chance.
    Gabe worked his way around the perimeter of the dance floor. It was filling with people who’d had a drink or two and were feeling a bit loose. Soon, people wouldn’t notice if he crept away from the main ballroom.
    He grabbed something from a passing waiter. It was made of salmon and pastry, so small an entire platter would barely fill him up. He sneered at the tiny thing before popping it in his mouth.
    Gabe almost closed his eyes in bliss. He’d been raised with great cooking. His mother made sure of that. But it had been a long time since food brought him that kind of pleasure.
    Gabe scanned the room, searching for another waiter carrying food. If the other items were like this, he might have to reconsider his opinion of hors d’oeuvres. He spotted a telltale uniform across the room and strolled toward the server as casually as he could. She stood by the French doors that opened onto a large white deck. It wound its way around the house, a handy shortcut to the other rooms. After he grabbed a couple more bites of food, it would be easy to slip outside, and from there he could access the rest of the house.
    Ten feet from the waiter, he drew up short, staring.
    The office wardrobe had been left behind. She didn’t wear a single shade of brown or gray, no dull neutral clothes just a little too big for her body.
    No, that night she wore a dress that could only have been designed with her in mind. The flared skirt came to her knees, highlighting improbably long legs, and the strapless top revealed pale, creamy shoulders he needed to run his lips across. The whole thing was that impossible to define shade somewhere between blue and green. He’d say it matched her eyes, but that would be a lie. Maddie’s eyes held secrets and stories he yearned to know. The dress was just a pretty color.
    Forget the food. Now he was salivating.
    Even here, her hair was up, though this time it was carefully pinned into a complicated updo. Gabe still longed to draw the pins and watch Maddie’s hair flow loose around her shoulders, but he was happy to see it up that night. Declan didn’t get to see her hair down before he did, damn it.
    He tried to smile at her, ignoring the fact that he appeared to be losing his fucking mind.
    “You look nice,” he lied. She looked fucking incredible.
    “Thank you,” she said, far too calm.
    His designer suit wasn’t having the same effect on her that the dress was on him. If anything, she seemed more distant then ever, while he couldn’t stop remembering their kiss—and fighting the almost overwhelming urge to grab her in the middle of the party and do it again.
    “We haven’t met. I’m Declan.”
    Gabe wrenched his attention away from Maddie and glanced at the hand before him. He could find no valid reason not to shake it. He did so, a bit rough, letting the man feel his calluses.
    To his annoyance, Declan had a few of his own.
    “Were you heading outside?” Maddie asked.
    He glanced at the open doors, finding them less appealing than he had a moment ago. “Yeah. I