Free Longing for Love by Marie Force Page A

come to hate her enough to want to see her and her business ruined. It had happened, she supposed, right around the time he finished school and they returned to the island. He didn’t need her anymore and had shoved her aside to focus on his career.  
    Giving in to exhaustion, Tiffany closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair.
     
    That’s where Blaine found her when he arrived after his shift. He was so intent on getting upstairs that he almost missed her sitting in the lonely living room chair. Stopping short, he studied her for a long indecisive moment. Something must’ve happened. Otherwise, she’d be exactly where he’d told her to be. Earlier, she’d seemed excited by his directions. Had she suffered a change of heart in the ensuing hours? Or had something else happened?
    It occurred to him that he had two choices: wake her up to find out what was wrong or quietly leave with her none the wiser that he’d ever been there. The Blaine who had vowed to avoid projects like the plague should take option B and get the hell out of there. The Blaine who’d been moved by this woman, both in bed and out, squatted down, rested his arms on her legs and leaned in to kiss her awake.
    She came to with a gasp, her eyes widening at the sight of him.
    “Hey,” he said softly.  
    “Oh. Hi.” She rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”
    “Eleven thirty.”
    She moaned. “I can’t believe I fell asleep when I knew you were coming, and I was supposed to…”
    Blaine smiled at the way she lowered her eyes in embarrassment when she recalled his directions. Could she be any cuter? “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing, why?”
    “I figured something must be wrong if you’re down here rather than in bed waiting for me.”
    “It’s nothing.” She started to get up. “Just give me a couple of minutes.”
    Blaine told himself to let her go. He was here to have sex with her, not start a relationship. What did it matter to him if she was upset about something? Except it did matter. He could tell himself a thousand times not to get involved, not to make her problems his problems. While he’d like to think he’d learned from his mistakes, none of his past disasters had changed who he was deep inside. So rather than let her go, he slid his arms under her, picked her up and turned to sit in the chair with her on his lap.
    Right away, the scent of strawberries filled his senses and fired his desires. But he forced his thoughts away from the need that strummed through him whenever she was close to him and focused on finding out what had upset her.
    She looked at him with eyes gone wide with surprise at the unexpected move. She’d probably expected him to carry her off to bed. “You don’t have to—”
    “What happened?”
    “It’s nothing. Really.”
    “Tell me anyway.”
    She sighed and relaxed into his embrace. “Jim.”
    Every muscle in Blaine’s body tensed at the mention of her ex-husband. “What about him?”
    “He came by the store.”
    “And?” Was she upset about seeing Jim again? Feeling guilty about what they’d done the night before? Did she want to reconcile with her lowlife ex? Was that what she was going to say? A stab of disappointment caught him off guard. Sure, he didn’t want to get mired in another messy relationship, but he didn’t want to see her back with a scumbag who didn’t deserve her, either.
    “He’s going to do everything in his power to shut down my ‘smut’ shop.”
    Relieved that her dismay had nothing to do with reconciling with Jim, Blaine didn’t think this was the best time to tell her the mayor planned to add her and her shop to the town council’s upcoming agenda. There’d be time for that later. “There’s nothing he can do, Tiffany. You’re there legally and have the same right to make a living in this town as he does.”
    “He’s resourceful. If there’s a way to put me out of business, he’ll find it.”
    “He’s probably annoyed that