Read, Write, Love (Love in Bloom: The Remingtons, Book 5) Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster

won’t he be a total mood killer?”
    He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to it. “I’m not sure there’s any such thing when I’m around you.”
    She stepped in close and ran her finger down the center of his chest. “Well, Mr. Remington, you know how to cut right to a girl’s heart. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
    He eyed Pepper again. “You’re a package deal, and I have a feeling that I might as well get used to it.” He leaned down and kissed her long and slow, and when their lips finally parted, he wasn’t so sure he even wanted to leave the cottage.

    Chapter Ten
    THEY DROVE TO Duck Harbor and left their shoes, a blanket, and a bag with the wine and sandwiches that they’d brought on the side of the dune and walked hand in hand by the water’s edge. Pepper trotted happily beside them, tethered by his new leash. The wet sand was cold between Leanna’s toes, and a light breeze came in with the crashing waves. It had been a long time since she’d walked hand in hand with a man. Kurt’s hands were big and strong, and as strange as it seemed, the word safe came to mind when she thought about their interlocked fingers.
    “Tell me about your life, Leanna. You said you’re here for the summer, but where do you live when you’re not at the Cape?”
    She’d been trying to figure out how to explain her crazy life all day, and now, walking beside Kurt, she threw out the preconceived ideas she’d come up with and decided to go with complete honesty. What did she have to lose besides maybe the most thoughtful guy on earth?
    “I lived in Pullman, Washington, for a few months, where I was helping a friend with her floral business. I gave up my apartment when I came here to start my business. I’m kind of a wanderer, I guess. Growing up as a military brat sort of set me up to move around a lot.”
    “Your family is military? My dad’s retired army, four-star-general through and through.”
    “Yeah? Did you move around a lot?”
    Kurt shook his head. “No. I guess we were lucky in that regard. I like knowing I’m coming home to the same comfortable and familiar house. But my dad is the epitome of a military father. Strict and maybe a little cold at times. How about you?”
    “Cold? Really? My father’s one of the warmest men I know. He’s not at all a typical military guy, I don’t think. In fact, I’m sure of it. He’s very forgiving of his children. Probably too much so.” She noticed tension lines around Kurt’s mouth that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “Do you and your dad get along?”
    He shifted his eyes to her. “Yeah, sure. He’s a good guy, and I respect the hell out of him for all he’s done. He’s just…He pushed us all pretty hard when we were growing up. You know the type. Do better. Do more. Be the best at whatever you do .” He stopped to pick up a stone and tossed it into the water. “I think it’s what’s driven me to be so focused on my career, so it was a good thing. At least for me.”
    “If my dad had a little of that in him, then it might have helped me,” she admitted.
    He pulled her close and gazed into her eyes. She loved his face, the soft crease beside his nose, the sweet fullness of his lips, and she could look at his eyes all night. Kurt had kind, emotional eyes. She read a thousand things in them in the space of a breath. Happiness, hope, generosity, desire. What she didn’t see was what she’d seen earlier—the restrained yearning to be writing. And she was relieved.
    “Helped you with what?”
    She shifted her eyes away. This was the hard part. A little fear weaseled its way into her heart and kicked up her pulse.
    When she didn’t answer, he took her hand and turned back in the direction they’d come. He didn’t push her for an answer or act as though he was annoyed by her silence. She added that to the growing list of things she really liked about Kurt.
    “Do you have a big family?” she asked.
    “Yeah. Three brothers