Free On the Rocks (A Turtle Island Novel) by Kim Law

arrived. The knowledge soothed her in a way that surprised her. It would be Carter. Because this wasn’t just her spot, it was theirs. It was where they’d watched sunrises together from a young age.
    She wiped at her eyes, removing evidence of the tears.
    “Ah, hell,” Carter muttered behind her. She’d walked over instead of driving, so he wouldn’t have had warning that he wasn’t alone when he first pulled up. Both his tone and his words made her smile. Misery loves company and all that. And if ever there was a miserable person in this world, it seemed to be the man who’d just shown up.
    She patted the spot beside her, not wasting the energy to look at him. “Don’t even think about leaving,” she said. “Come join me.”
    “I didn’t figure you still came out here.” His feet shuffled through the brush.
    “And I didn’t think you came out from behind those closed blinds,” she replied when he stopped shy of the rock she sat on. She peeked over her shoulder, noticed that he still wore the jeans he’d had on the night before, and lifted a brow. From the rumpled condition of his clothes, he’d slept in them. And from his bloodshot eyes, he’d done a lot of drinking before that.
    “Long night?” she asked.
    “Long life,” he countered.
    He came closer, stopping beside her, but he still didn’t sit. He held a plastic grocery bag in his hand, and she went back to staring at the horizon. She remained as silent as he. She wasn’t in a good mood, and if he didn’t want to talk, she certainly wouldn’t encourage him to do so.
    “Why are you here?” It surprised her when he spoke. “As dressed up as you were last night, I figured the date would still be going on.”
    “Yeah, well . . .” Her throat threatened to close. “As you can see, it’s not.”
    And she had no idea where it had gone wrong.
    The date had started off great. They’d been talking, she’d been looking good. She’d laughed in all the right places, and made sure she stroked his ego a time or two. She’d been at the top of her game. But halfway through dinner he’d seemed to lose interest. Just like that. Poof. He couldn’t care less.
    She’d continued to try, bringing up interesting topics and making sure she kept her attention focused on him. She’d even invited him in for a nightcap—though it would have stopped at that. But he hadn’t been interested. Said he had to be somewhere early this morning. Then he’d given her a friendly hug . . . and he’d almost squealed tires getting out of there.
    “So it didn’t go well?” Carter tried again.
    Ginger sighed. “What do you want, Carter? Why are you here?” She was not in the mood to talk about the sad state of her dating life.
    He settled in beside her. “Came to watch the sunrise.”
    “Then watch it.” And leave me alone.
    They both grew silent, and as she stared out at the pale light spreading its reach over the horizon, Carter pulled a pack of cigarettes from his bag. He lit one, and she bit her lip to keep from calling him an idiot. Wasn’t he aware that those things could kill him?
    Not to mention they were just nasty. She wouldn’t have thought he’d become a smoker.
    “Maybe you should have played a little harder to get,” he suggested.
    She clenched her teeth to hold in the growl of frustration. What did he know about it? But she found herself turning to him anyway, curiosity winning out. If he had suggestions, maybe she should—
    He blew out a stream of smoke as their gazes met.
    “That’s disgusting.” She wrinkled her nose.
    “That’s what I hear.”
    His eyes were an intense mix of greens and browns, and with a thick frame of eyelashes and the way they sat deep in the sockets, they held an air of mystery. And a serious side of sexy.
    Only, today they just looked angry.
    He picked up his bag again, and rummaged inside it. What he pulled out that time was a beer and a bottle opener. He held the beer out in front of her. “Want to ream