Free Attached (Coronado Series Book 3) by Lea Hart

stronger. “I’m feeling a little water-logged. Let’s get out.”
    He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He held out his hand, and she held on tight. He handed her a towel, and they dried off. “I’m going to go and get fresh clothes, and then I’ll come back and take you to breakfast.”
    She patted his chest and smiled at him before leaving the bathroom. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut and was trying to decide how much attention he was going to pay to it. He followed her out and watched her dig through her suitcase. He quickly slipped on his shorts and shirt. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Wait for me here.”
    “Sure, I’ll be here.”
    He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and left. He walked over to his room and decided he was being paranoid. He walked in, quickly changed and was about to leave when he heard his phone ring. He looked down and knew he couldn’t ignore it. It was his mom and he had been avoiding her for weeks. His time had run out. He knew he couldn’t avoid the conversation any longer.
    Cary decided to wear one of her new dresses and cowboy boots. She was going to embrace this new look and see what happened. Maybe if she wore more interesting clothes, she would then figure out how to get a life to go with them.  
    Hearing her phone buzz, she picked it up and listened to Mort talk about the state of her car. A wave of despair washed over her. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” She finished getting ready and waited to see if Travis was going to make it back. She checked her watch and noticed it had been close to an hour since he’d left. She finished packing her suitcase and gave the room one last check. She looked at her watch again and decided to head over to the auto shop. She rolled her suitcase over the motel office so they could watch it while she retrieved her car.  
    She walked over to the diner and grabbed a cup of coffee before heading down the street. As she passed the shops, she wondered why Travis made such a big deal about wanting to see her again. She knew it was a one-night thing and she was fine with that. Just because she taught kindergarten didn’t mean she was unsophisticated. He should have just said good-bye and left it at that.
    Travis flew out his door as soon as he ended his call. He looked at his watch and realized that it had been more than an hour since he’d left Cary. He hoped that she was understanding about the delay as he took long strides over to her room. There was a maid’s cart outside the room, and he knew that she’d left without saying anything. He popped his head inside and noticed that all of her things were gone. It looked like Cary had checked out and not bothered to let him know. He looked down at his phone to see if she’d had texted him, but his phone was blank. Frustration filled his body, and he felt like pounding his head against the wall when he remembered that they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. His boy parts had been buried in her girl parts hours ago, and somehow he had failed to get her phone number. The first lesson you learn as an adolescent is to get the phone number. Before he lost his mind, he recalled that he had dropped a tracking card in her purse. It pays to be paranoid . He brought up the app on his phone and quickly tracked her. It appeared that she was moving slowly down Main Street toward the other end of town. She must be going to get her car, so he jogged in the direction of the blinking light. He could still do a seven-minute mile, and he felt confident that he would make it before she left.
    Cary stood in front of Mort and felt inexplicably sad, because her Volvo station wagon had died. They had been together since college, and she felt like she was being asked to say good-bye to a close friend. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help herself. “Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing we can do to save her?”
    “Ms. Cary, I can’t in good conscience make