Free Seduction of Steel: The Complete Series by Laura Charles Page A

land a guy in about five minutes if you were wearing that on the beach right now.”
     
    “Perhaps we should go to the beach next”, Kristin replied with a grin.
     
    Jessica bought a cute pair of earrings and a matching necklace, and they took a taxi down the main road towards Seven Mile Beach to find some lunch.  They decided to dine at a rustic outdoor restaurant called Sloppy Joe's.   This was an informal restaurant that had plastic tables with umbrellas and a number of wild birds just sort of roaming about.  It wasn't a fancy place, but they made a great rack of ribs and a decent burger, and the umbrellas made the place comfortable, even on the hottest of days.
     
    Even though Jessica hated messy foods as a rule, she loved ribs, and ordered a small rack and a salad, along with a Margarita.  Kristin ordered a burger, fries and a beer.  They talked a bit about their love lives.
     
    “I'm really sorry about what happened with Ryan”, Kristin said between French fries.  “He sounded pretty hot.”
     
    “I'm not even sure what happened with Ryan.  I thought we had something between us, and then he turned out to be something else, and then he was just gone.”
     
    “ At least you had something for a little while.  I don't have anybody.” 
     
    “What happened to that guy you were seeing”, Kristin asked, as she wiped barbecue sauce off of her cheek.
     
    “We had a few dates, but nothing serious came of it.  I'd like to stay on the ship for a couple more years, but he was ready to leave.  We just didn't seem like a good fit.”
     
    As they finished their lunch, Kristin excused herself to use the ladies' room.  Jessica just spent a moment enjoying her day on dry land.
     
    “Excuse me.  Is this seat taken?”, said a male voice.
     
    Jessica shivered for an instant, as that voice was instantly recognizable.  She turned around and there was Ryan.  He'd grown a beard, and was wearing sunglasses, a short sleeved Polo shirt and some fairly new Levis.  Jessica wasn't really all that crazy about beards, but right now, she thought Ryan looked positively hot.
     
    And then she came back to Earth.  This guy had gotten her in a lot of trouble.
     
    “Ryan!  What are you doing here?  No. Never mind.  I don't care.  Get away from me.”  She got up to leave.
     
    “Jessica, wait a minute.  We need to talk.”  He grabbed her arm as she stood up to leave.  Jessica couldn't help but notice how her skin tingled when Ryan touched her.  She tried to ignore it.
     
    “NO!  You're a criminal.  You've gotten me in trouble with the authorities from three different countries.  If you don't let go, I'm going to call the cops now!”
     
    Ryan let go, but wouldn't stop trying to talk to her.  “Jessica.  I can explain everything.  Please give me two minutes of your time.”
     
    “Kristin is going to be back any minute.  If I don't call the cops, she will.”
     
    Just then, Kristin came around the corner.  Ryan quickly turned to leave.
     
    “Who was that?”, Kristin asked.
     
    “No one.  Just a guy trying to pick me up.  I told him that I wasn't interested.  Let's go.”
     
    They paid their bill and took a taxi back towards the ship. 
     
    Kristin noticed that Jessica seemed a bit uncomfortable.  “Are you OK?”, she asked.
     
    “Yes, I'm fine.  Something about that guy just creeped me out.  That's all.”
     
    “Did he try to hurt you?  Maybe you should call the police.”
     
    “No, I'm fine. Really.  Let's do a bit more shopping before we go back to the ship.  I'm still not ready to leave dry land.”  They both laughed.
     
    They visited a couple of other stores, tried on some more clothes, and looked at some more jewelry.  Kristin was putting together quite a stack of bargain clothing, but Jessica couldn't keep her mind off of Ryan.
     
    What did he want?  What is he doing here?  Has he been here for the past three months?
     
    Of course, she'd know the answer to