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

me about this bad habit, too?”
    “Are you kidding me? The sun isn’t even up yet.”
    “I know. Want one?”
    She gawked at him.
    He ignored her and popped the top, then took a long drink before putting the cigarette back to his lips. Her subconscious nagged at her to pay attention. To look beyond the obvious. This wasn’t the Carter she’d once known. What was going on with him?
    But she didn’t care if he had bad habits or not. He could fill his lungs with cancer and drink his liver into rot. She was too busy feeling sorry for herself to waste time worrying about him.
    “What did you mean?” she asked.
    When he lifted a brow, she clarified, “What you said about me playing harder to get. I’m not easy . I didn’t—”
    “I didn’t mean you were easy .” He took another drag on his cigarette. “Not that I know about that one way or another.”
    “I’m not,” she repeated.
    She waited for him to say more, but instead, he took another drink. His stubbled jaw was set and hard, and her irritation increased the longer he remained silent. Was she really willing to take advice from a man she hadn’t seen in years? One who looked to need more than a bit of advice himself?
    Apparently so.
    “ What did you mean?” she asked again.
    He blew out the smoke that had been swirling in his lungs, still taking his time, and when his gaze landed on her once again, he flicked a glance over her body before bringing it to her face. “I mean . . . do you really dress like that these days?”
    She looked down at herself. “Like what?”
    “Like you were last night. All dolled up, looking more plastic than real.”
    “I looked goo d !”
    “You didn’t look like you. I’ll bet you even had a high-pitched giggle going, even if he wasn’t funny.”
    Anger shoved its way to the head of the class. She had not giggled. Much.
    And she’d worked darned hard fixing herself up. “I looked like me,” she informed him. “It was just a better version of me.” The version that didn’tlook like a fishing-boat captain. Guys wanted girls who smelled like flowers. Not fish.
    Which reminded her, she needed to buy more perfume. She’d had to use her mom’s last night, but it smelled too perfumey for her.
    Was that what had turned Patrick off? He didn’t like her smell?
    Carter was still watching her, and she braced herself for a snide comment. He had the air of someone who was only capable of snide these days. Yet when he asked, “Are you sure?” in a brutally honest voice, it shredded her insides.
    He didn’t understand. This was what women did. They primped for dates. They put their best foot forward. They freaking giggled even when the jokes weren’t funny.
    “Forget it,” she muttered. She’d been right the first time. She didn’t want to talk about the sad state of her dating life.
    He took another drink of beer and went back to the sunrise, and she once again hugged her knees tight. The sky was changing now, from all blues to showing some pinks. Clouds were also blossoming with pinks and oranges, and several paddleboarders could be spotted in the water.
    There was something about this time of day. When everything was quiet and still. It made the world seem easier. It also made it less scary to voice things she wouldn’t normally say.
    “He just didn’t like me,” she said softly. She could feel Carter’s gaze trained on her again, but she motioned toward the water. “You’ll miss the sunrise.”
    He took the hint and looked away. “What didn’t he like?”
    “If I knew that, I’d fix it.”
    The top edge of the sun popped out from behind the ocean, and she held her breath. It was magnificent. Color filled the sky just above the water, and sprays of sunshine shot light through the clouds.
    “He must have liked you if he asked you out,” Carter pointed out.
    That’s what she’d thought, too. She didn’t answer—she couldn’t or she’d cry again.
    The sun continued its climb, and as the bottom