Free One Hot Night Old Port Nights, Book 1 by Unknown Page A

for it. Especially if you stay around here.”
    “Thanks, you could be right. I have to think about it more, though. But enough about me. Anyone special for you lately?”
    Deb shook her head, frowning as she watched a woman walk up to join the guy who had been smiling at her a few minutes earlier.
    “Nope. Major dry spell. Seems like the men around here have either disappeared or gotten together with someone over the last few months. Like my best friend scooping up the local hockey hunk.”
    “I did not—”
    “So you wouldn’t care if I made a play for him.”
    Audra frowned before she could stop it.
    “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Deb said with no shortage of cheek.
    As they talked, Audra’s mind relaxed, and she thought more about what Deb had to say. Maybe she should talk to Scott and try to be more open to the possibilities. He wasn’t her ex, and she’d slept with him because she’d wanted to—and it had been wonderful. The expression on his face when he’d seen her wrecked store, and when he realized she could have been hurt, spoke volumes. He cared, and she’d pushed him away.
    Maybe what she was really afraid of was herself. That if she saw him, she wouldn’t be able to say no. That she’d want more as well. Could she tell him that? Was it what she wanted?
    Especially if this time, he might be the one who turned away?
     
     
    Scott sat at the bar late that night, alone, after having drunk way too much. The day after the storm had been one of the most miserable days of his life. He missed Audra something fierce. She wouldn’t talk to him. Wouldn’t return his calls.
    The thought of not seeing her anymore was…unthinkable.
    He wished he knew why. There was obviously more going on than just her upset about the store, but he didn’t know what. For now all he could do was try to give her some breathing room, and when she was less angry, maybe they could talk again. Maybe she’d change her mind.
    No. The worst part was, he couldn’t fix it—any of it. Even though he’d tried everything over the past few days, there was no financially solid way for him to save Lost Treasures, and that meant it was over. There was no way he could recoup the loss of a completely new building built where Lost Treasures had stood, even if he raised her rent to the current market value for the area. He was being advised to either sell the building or expand his own business there, adding a restaurant and perhaps some sort of sports facility. That would mean Audra would definitely be gone.
    She’d be moving away, and he knew it would be the end of them, when there had hardly been a beginning.
    His feelings for Audra were frightening. It had moved fast and taken him by surprise. To hurt this much after spending one night with a woman seemed insane—though he suspected he’d been falling for a long time, watching her and talking to her over those five years. When she finally was his, everything fell into place.
    And then it fell apart.
    He slid off the bar stool and took a moment as the world around him tilted slightly. Maybe another drink wasn’t the best idea, but he didn’t want to think anymore.
    Haunting lyrics about love lost from a Dave Matthews song played in the bar, spookily appropriate for the moment. He found the system controls behind the bar and shut the damned thing off.
    The quiet was almost worse.
    Suddenly, he heard a noise at the door. Someone moved in the shadows, and Scott faced the door, unsure if it was an intruder trying to jimmy the door—there had been a few problems with break-ins, intruders trying to loot the defunct antique shop at night. Then a figure stepped into the light.
    Audra.
    What was she doing here at this hour?
    She didn’t knock but met his eyes through the glass, her phone to her ear. His rang.
    “Audra?” Scott’s heart was slamming in his chest as he walked to the door, still holding the phone to his ear.
    “Hi. I know it’s late, but can I come in?”
    Scott