Free The Borrowed Boyfriend by Ginny Baird Page A

was refreshing. She inhaled deeply, absorbing the salty breeze, and tugged the door shut behind her.
    A charming set of rockers lined the broad covered porch separated from the soapstone patio below it by a low railing. Center steps led down to an outdoor seating area, complete with a fire pit in the center. To the patio’s left, Allison spied a gas grill housed in a brick surround that included a separate gas cooktop large enough to accommodate a hefty lobster pot. To the right, a raised boardwalk led over the low-lying dunes and out toward the sea. Sea grass danced in the wind, prettily offsetting the patio’s ocean panorama. Allison caught her breath. “It’s—”
    “Amazing,” Grady said, taking her hand.

    Suddenly, Grady realized what he’d done, and he froze, staring aghast at Allison’s hand in his. He didn’t know why, but he’d been overcome. Unexpectedly swept up in the moment. The view was so spectacular, and the timbre of the waves had been particularly romantic. There’d been music in his soul and a pounding in his heart and he’d instinctively reached out. Grady generally thought with his head, but in that instant, emotion had overwhelmed him. After her meltdown on the road, Allison had seemed to change. She’d been so thoughtful in buying him the sort of cookies his grandmother used to make, and the gesture had warmed his heart. Perhaps a little too much.
    “There you two are!” came a bright voice from the other end of the porch.  
    Grady squinted through the shadows, willing himself to release Allison’s hand. But somehow he couldn’t. It was like his fingers were stuck, clamped tightly around hers.
    “Carla?” Was it Grady’s imagination, or had blood flooded Allison’s face? “Is that you?”
    Footfalls echoed across the planks as a woman with wavy orange hair dressed in a puffy jacket approached. A buff-looking guy in a field coat trailed her, his face lighting up in a grin. “It is them!”
    “Bruce! Carla!” Allison cried, tightening her fingers around Grady’s in surprise.
    Bruce and Carla both looked down to find Allison and Grady’s grips sweetly entwined. “I guess this must be Grady!” Carla said with an approving smile.

Chapter Eleven

    After the necessary introductions, Allison asked. “So, when did you all get here?” She also developed the presence of mind to reclaim her hand. She slipped it out of Grady’s grasp and into her windbreaker pocket, before it could cause her any more trouble. She didn’t know what had gone on just then, but Grady’s move had surprised her. It was like he’d lost track of where he was, or—even worse—who he was with. She and he had established firm ground rules. One of the most important ones, and something Kate had naturally insisted on, was that their interactions would remain platonic. Plenty of couples weren’t big on PDA. It wouldn’t make her and Grady’s relationship appear any less legitimate if they each employed a degree of reserve.
    “We just pulled in,” Carla explained, “and were getting the lay of the land.”
    “We decided to check out the porch, and that’s how we found you two.” Bruce motioned to the pair of them with his beer bottle and Allison recalled that she and Grady had left theirs on the bedside table.
    “We forgot our beers,” she said to Grady. “Maybe we should grab them and join the others in the great room?”
    “I’ll get the beers,” Grady offered quickly. “You go ahead with Carla and Bruce and start catching up.”
    Allison nodded and Carla pulled her into a one-armed hug as Bruce walked ahead of them. “He seems really cute,” Carla whispered. “I can’t wait to get to know him.” With her free hand she pinched up a handful of tresses. “What do you think of the color?”
    “Oh! Um… It’s hard to say in the dark.”
    Carla frowned with disappointment.  
    “But it looks really good!” Allison rapidly amended. “I mean, from what I can see of it! Love the new