Free Seduce Me by Jill Shalvis

her—
    â€œOkay.” Lorissa cocked her head, searching Sam’s expression carefully. “So why all the secrecy—Oh. Oh, damn,” she breathed softly. “You like him. You really like him.” Lorissa’s face split into a wide grin. “Tell me the truth.”
    Sam should have taken that wave. “I had agood time,” she admitted, and when Lorissa just waited, she sighed. “Fine. Make that a great time.”
    â€œSo you’re going to see him again? Has he called? Have you called? Stop holding back on me, damn it!”
    â€œIt’s only been a few hours. And you’re the one who should spill, you neglected to tell me he was an ex-NBA star.”
    â€œActually, I didn’t know.” Lorissa looked thoughtful. “I guess I should have matched his name with the stories.” She shrugged. “I’ve never been much for watching basketball.”
    Yeah, neither had Sam.
    â€œSo…what’s next? Another date? Or did you give him the famous Sam Blow-Off?”
    â€œWell…next weekend we’re doing this…thing.”
    â€œOmigod, you’re going on date number two!” Lorissa looked as though she’d just won the lottery.
    â€œI’m just helping him and his sister at some charity carnival. That’s all. Not really date number two.”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    â€œIt’s not.” Giving up convincing Lorissa when she couldn’t even convince herself, Sam took the next wave.
    Â 
    O N M ONDAY , Sam skipped her morning surf to make her monthly trek out to San Juan Capistrano.
    As she had on the first Monday of every monthwithout fail for five years, she got out of her car at the secluded little house on the beach, walked up the steps and knocked.
    And pulled a check from her purse written from her checking account for just enough money to make her wince—especially after dropping $800 on Jack Knight at the auction.
    The door opened and there stood Red—a sixty-five-year-old, lanky lean, skin-tanned-to-leather, long-haired beach bum. The beach bum who’d given her a job when she’d been fourteen with too much free time on her hands.
    The same beach bum who was her mother’s older brother, a man who’d never wanted children and yet had taken her in when her parents died, giving her what he could when life had taken so much away.
    And as always, just the sight of Red caught her by the chest and squeezed.
    In return, his light blue eyes twinkled and warmed. But he was duty-bound by habit to give her his monthly scowl as he leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed. “Is it that time already?”
    â€œYou know it is.”
    â€œYeah. So what do you want?”
    Grabbing his hand, she slapped the check into his palm. “What do you think?”
    He peered down at the piece of paper, and asit did every month, his scowl deepened. “Is it any good?”
    â€œDeposit it and see.”
    â€œMaybe I don’t want to go to the trouble.”
    Nothing ever changed about this dialogue. As always, he tried to hand the check back to her.
    She put her hands behind her back. “What’s the matter, my money not good enough for you?”
    â€œI keep telling you I don’t want your money.”
    â€œI bought your place, I’m paying for your place. You hold the mortgage. How many times do we have to go through this? Just deposit the damn check and reduce my damn debt, and soon enough I’ll stop showing up on your doorstep.”
    â€œFine.” He jammed the check into the pocket of his faded Hawaiian surf shorts, which hung low on his skinny hips. “I suppose you’ve been staying out of trouble.”
    â€œI suppose.” She peered in past him to look at the small place he’d been slowly renovating now that he’d retired. “You hire a maid for this sty yet?”
    â€œYep, with your money, thanks. Sure you don’t want to take the check