Free Under the Boardwalk by Barbara Cool Lee Page A

noticed how the skin on his face was brown and toughened by years of working outdoors. Around his eyes were fine lines that on someone else she would assume were caused by too many years squinting in the wind and sun, but on Kyle could only be laugh-lines. Wait a minute , she thought. What are you doing? You're as bad as David said you were. You're a romantic dreamer, getting carried away by a momentary attraction. What happened to your plans to be sensible? Get a grip on yourself!
    She knew that little voice inside her was right, and pulled away from Kyle, but he grasped one of her hands.
    With a little smile, he lifted her hand up to brush his lips against her scarred palm. She wanted to pull away, to hide the ugliness of her hand. But he held it in his, gently but firmly.
    "Hallie," he murmured. He bent his head down to hers, and their lips touched. Hallie was shocked. This felt nothing like the way her ex-husband had kissed her—possessively claiming her mouth, taking more than she'd wanted to give. This was different. Kyle's lips barely brushed against hers, and yet she felt a tingling awareness of him—the touch of his mouth, the sound of his breathing, the warmth of his body so close.
    In spite of herself, Hallie felt her mouth reach for his, wanting more than that light touch.
    "Hey! What do you think you're doing up there?"
    Kyle and Hallie both jumped. They turned around to see a man in a ride operator's uniform glaring at them.
    "Whoops," Kyle said with a chuckle. He swung Hallie down to the floor, and stepped down after her.
    "How did you get in here?" the man asked. He looked suspiciously at Kyle. "You look kinda familiar...."
    "Sorry," Kyle said contritely. He winked at Hallie. "We're just in from Albuquerque for the week, you see"—
    —"Albuquerque?" Hallie asked.
    "Look, I don't care where you're from. This ride isn't open yet. You're going to have to wait outside."
    "I told you the park was still closed, dear," Kyle said to Hallie with a shake of his head. "But you just couldn't wait, could you?"
    "Uh, I'm sorry, honey," Hallie said as sheepishly as she could.
    "She's always like this," Kyle confided to the ride operator. He steered Hallie toward the door. "I just can't keep her out of trouble."
    "Albuquerque?" Hallie said when they were out of earshot.
    "Best I could come up with on the spur of the moment. So, troublemaker, let's see if we can get you to the haunted house without any more incidents." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the building into the foggy morning.
    That little voice inside Hallie's head was still there, shouting to her that one kiss didn't mean anything, that she was getting carried away, that there was no place for Kyle Aidan Madrigal in her safe, practical plans for the future.
    Hallie pulled away from Kyle and walked a few steps ahead of him down the promenade. Her heart gradually slowed its pounding in her chest, and she was able to put her temporary insanity behind her and pay attention to her surroundings.
    They were alone as they walked along the promenade, except for a few employees busy in the various rides and concession booths nestled in the shadow of the roller coaster.
    "See, everything under the roller coaster is original," Kyle pointed out. "The part we were in before," he pointed back toward the carousel, "that's all new and plastic. This is the part I remember from when I was a kid."
    Hallie heard a roar overhead and instinctively ducked her head.
    "Look up," Kyle said, and she did.
    Right next to where they walked the roller coaster track dipped down to almost touch the roof of the building below it. The coaster whizzed by on the track, with a lone man in overalls sitting in front. The man waved to them, then the car climbed up the next hill to disappear once again into the fog, though they could still hear the click-click of the car on the tracks from somewhere high above them.
    "That's Scotty," Kyle explained. "He's been here since I was a