Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (33 page)

“
I
’ll
s
a
y
.
”
C
lu
t
chi
n
g
the
cup
tigh
t
er
in
her
f
i
s
t
,
she
asked,
“
Let
me
get
this
straigh
t
,
y
ou
could
n
’t
sleep
and
g
o
t
up
t
o paint
m
y
li
v
i
n
g
room—in
the
middle
of
the
night?”

“T
h
at
a
bout
cove
r
s
it.
B
ack
door
w
as
n
’t
locked.
Y
ou really
need
t
o
remedy
that.
I
t
r
ied
not
t
o
w
a
ke
y
ou.
W
h
at time
i
s
it?”

“
S
i
x
-fif
t
een
.
”
W
hen
H
ut
t
o
n
’
s
b
a
by
b
a
bble
crackled through
the
moni
t
o
r
,
she
immed
i
at
ely
t
urned
t
o
le
a
ve
and then
s
t
opped
suddenl
y
.
S
he
backtracked,
held
out
her
cup of
coffee
t
o
him.
“
Y
ou
look
like
y
ou
could
u
s
e
this
a
l
o
t
more than m
e
.
B
rea
k
fast
w
ill
be
ready in
a
bout
t
wen
t
y
minu
t
e
s.
Eg
g
s
and
bacon
o
k
a
y?”

T
a
k
in
g
th
e
c
u
p
f
ro
m
he
r
i
n
on
e
hand
,
h
e
sc
r
u
bbe
d
at
h
is
fac
e
w
it
h
th
e
pal
m
o
f
h
is
hand
,
r
u
bbe
d
h
is
e
y
e
s
.
“
F
in
e
. T
hat
’
s...fi
n
e
.
”

N
ick
w
at
ched
J
or
d
an
w
a
lk
out
of
the
room.
I
t
might
h
a
ve been
through
blea
r
y
e
y
e
s,
but
all
he
could
think
w
as
what a
punch
h
e
’
d
just
t
a
ken.
T
h
i
s
early
in
the
morni
n
g
,
wea
r
i
n
g no
mak
e
-u
p
,
she
looked—nothi
n
g
sho
r
t
of
am
a
zi
n
g
.
T
h
at
thought
k
icked
him
in
t
o
gea
r
.
H
e
t
ook
a
much-needed
pull on
the
caffeine,
men
t
ally
t
r
y
i
n
g
t
o
shake
the
cobwe
b
s
out
of his
brain.

J
or
d
an
w
as Sco
t
t
’
s
w
if
e
.
H
ad
been, he co
r
re
c
t
ed, as
he looked
around
the
room
at
the
m
es
s
h
e
’
d
mad
e
.

T
h
ank
God
the
woman
w
as
n
’t
h
i
s
ty
p
e
.
H
i
s
ty
pe
had al
w
a
ys
been
women
who
liked
t
o
pa
r
t
y
,
women
who
did
n
’t h
a
ve
a
dom
e
stic
bone
in
their
bod
y
.
H
e
’
d
cleverly
man
a
ged
t
o
a
v
o
id
women
like
J
or
d
an.
Af
t
er
all,
the
g
irl
next
door
ty
pe could
d
e
stroy
a
g
uy
’
s
p
l
a
y
er
s
t
a
t
us.
Of
cou
r
s
e,
l
at
ely
he
had
n
’t exa
c
tly
been
at
the
t
op
of
h
i
s
g
a
m
e
.

H
e
shook
his
head
and
s
t
ood
u
p
.
H
ow
lo
n
g
had
it
been
s
ince
h
e
’
d
been
w
ith
a
woman
a
n
y
w
a
y?
Ob
v
iousl
y
,
it
had been
t
oo
lo
n
g
.
H
e
needed
t
o
remedy
that.
Ma
ybe
h
e
’
d
slip in
t
o
S
an
t
a
C
r
uz
the
fi
r
st
chance
he
go
t
,
find
a
w
illi
n
g
,
a
v
ail
a
b
l
e
femal
e
.

O
k
a
y
,
tha
t
mad
e
hi
m
fee
l
bet
t
e
r
.

S
t
andi
n
g
there
t
r
y
i
n
g
t
o
w
a
ke
u
p
,
h
i
s
mind
went
back
t
o
wha
t
Sc
o
t
t
ha
d
al
w
a
ys
sai
d
a
b
ou
t
h
i
s
w
i
f
e
e
ve
r
y
ti
m
e
he
had
ta
ken
out
her
pi
c
t
ur
e
.
A
nd
now
af
t
er
bei
n
g
around
the woman
for
l
e
ss
than
t
wen
t
y
-
four
hou
r
s,
he
had
t
o
a
gre
e
...
J
or
d
an
w
as
a
na
t
ur
a
l
beau
t
y
,
an
all-
A
me
r
ican
k
ind
of
g
irl
w
it
h
a
s
weet
-
na
t
ur
e
.