by Elena Aitken
“What the—” She whipped the bag away from him hard and fast with a strength that surprised him. “Get your hands off my stuff!”
“Whoa.” Ian dropped the bag and held his hands up. “Chelsea, I’m your—”
“My name is not Chelsea.” The woman, who now that he had a chance to look at her properly, had actually no family resemblance to him, glared at him.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“Thought that maybe you could just steal my things because I’m a woman traveling on my own.” The woman stood tall and although she tried to appear tough, she likely hadn’t accounted for the shaking of her hands as she held fast onto her duffel and tried to keep the giant tote bag she had over her shoulder from sliding off. Ian tried not to smile at her bravado, but there was something about her; he couldn’t help it. “Oh,” she said, her words pointed. “I suppose you think this is funny now? You would.”
“I would?” He shook his head. “I don’t. I assure you, I didn’t mean to offend you. I thought you were—”
“Ian?”
He turned to see Chelsea—the actual Chelsea, he could see right away, because like it or not, there was definitely a strong McCormick family resemblance. “Chelsea?”
She shrugged and gave him a weak smile. She had one small duffel bag at her feet, and nothing more besides a purse over her thin body.
He hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether he was supposed to go to her, hug her or shake her hand. In the end, she came to him and smiled before she tucked her hands in her back pockets. Good. If she wasn’t the hugging type, that would probably make things easier.
“Well, it’s good to…meet you, I guess.”
“Yeah,” he said lamely. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” His words sounded hollow, and he instantly regretted them. It wasn’t her fault their father was an ass. “Should be a fun summer,” he added quickly and immediately regretted it because it sounded even lamer. “Let’s get going.”
He picked up her bag, which was even lighter than it looked. He gave her a questioning glance, but she didn’t look at him. “I’m just parked over here.” He pointed to his jeep. Before he walked away, he turned to apologize one more time to the woman he’d somehow inadvertently offended, but she was gone.
A twinge of regret he couldn’t explain flared in his gut.
He would have liked to apologize again, maybe even learn her name.
Ian shook his head, clearing any ideas before they could take root. He didn’t need any other complications. He headed toward the jeep, where Chelsea was already settled in, tapping something on her phone. No doubt he already had his hands full. He had a feeling it was going to be a very interesting summer.
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Are Ian and Gwen in for a sexy summer? Read the rest of Love in the Moment now!
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Copyright © 2018 by Elena Aitken
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.
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www.elenaaitken.com
ISBN: 978-1-927968-81-9
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