Free Animal Prints: Sweet Small Town Contemporary Romance (Michigan Moonlight Book 1) by May Williams Page A

from her face. The last of the light was swallowed up by the night, leaving them in heavy shadows.
    “Yep. Your intensity would frighten them.”  
    “Is that why Romeo avoided me at first?” he asked, not sure how to take her honesty.
    “He’s skittish around everyone, but, yeah, you frightened him.”
    “Do I frighten you?” Here was the key question for their relationship.
    She hesitated before answering, making him hold his breath. “A little, but for different reasons.”
    “Still afraid I’m a bum?”  
    “More like afraid you’re not one.” She wove her fingers through the hair on his neck and gave his head a slight tug down toward hers.
    “I think I like that answer.” His words were lost against her lips.

    After Ian walked Colette to her Jeep and gave her a lingering kiss goodbye, he drove out of Petoskey and onto the lonely road to Boyne. When he was with her, he didn’t feel like a hypocritical ass. He felt good, better than he ever had in his life. As soon as he was alone, the terrible game he was playing came back to haunt him. He glared into the lights of oncoming traffic. What the hell was he doing?  
    He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his brother. Tom answered on the second ring, sounding breathless.
    “Hey, what are you doing? Running a marathon?”  
    “Wrestling the kids into bed. I have to be a WWE champion this week and body-slam Nick into bed. Last week, I had to sack him. When we move onto hockey, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
    “Try not to get accused of child abuse,” Ian said in a droll tone, but he could hear the laughter of his seven-year-old nephew in the background. In spite of it all, he smiled. “You’re a good father, Tom.”
    “I’m trying.” A door closed in Tom’s house and Ian heard him juggle the phone. “We didn’t have much of an example. How’s your situation?”
    “Shit.” Ian had called his brother on the drive from Grand Island to Boyne a few days ago to fill him in on his meeting with Colette.
    “That good, huh? Have you seen her again?”
    “We just had dinner.”  
    “Ah. You told her the truth?”
    “I couldn’t.” If it’d only been a friendly meal, he’d be okay. But when he replayed their kisses and the way her hands on him made his skin hot and his blood boil, everything changed.
    “I said I would, but as soon as I saw her—No way.” He didn’t want to play with Colette like this. He sure as hell didn’t want to wait for the moment when she realized who he was and what he was up to. He had to tell her their meeting wasn’t a coincidence. Spending the night at her cottage was an accident. A damn nice accident. Colette might even call it fate right up until he told her why he met her.
    “It’s only going to get worse if you put it off.” Tom repeated what he’d said the other day and Ian’s own thoughts. “Tell her the truth now. She’ll probably be pissed, but she won’t feel used. You let this go any farther and you’re in deep shit. Did you tell her about your book?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What was her reaction? Did she like the idea?”
    “She was definitely sympathetic. Her father’s a Nam vet.”
    “Good. If you explain that you made this deal with Dad so you could get the book published and establish a relationship with your father, she’s bound to be understanding.”
    Ian thought about that for a few seconds. His brother was right, but the situation was complicated. He punched the accelerator, swerving around a slow moving car. His feelings for Colette were only part of the mess. He needed to talk about his other concerns regarding the deal with his dad, and Tom was the only one who could understand. “What do you suppose Dad’s game is? You’re an overpaid attorney used to analysis. Help me out here.”  
    “I’ve been wondering about that too,” Tom said.  
    “Here’s my number one question at the moment. Why’d Dad approach me about this job?”
    “I’ve been thinking about