Red Tide (Siren Publishing Classic) by Tymber Dalton

she doesn’t feel like going out now.”
    He felt his smile widen. “I’m just out grabbing a few things. Why don’t you meet me in an hour at my place.”
    “Oh, good. I’ll see you then.”
    “Looking forward to it, sweetheart.” He ended the call and ran through a list of nearby stores in his mind to stop at. At least I won’t strike out tonight.
    Jenna showed up on time, and it didn’t take long before they were in bed and making love. Shortly before dawn the next morning, she cuddled closer to him, a smile caressing her lips. “I’m glad this is my day off,” she sleepily murmured.
    John patted her on the arm. “Why don’t we grab a little sleep? When you feel up to it, I’ll take you out to breakfast.”
    Jenna sighed. “I’d like that very much.”
    He closed his eyes and sank into murky darkness, his need in hibernation for the moment.

Chapter Ten
     
    Mitch awoke on the couch around four the next morning. The awkward position she slept in left her neck stiff and sore. On TV, an ad for a psychic hotline blared. Mitch stared at the screen for a moment, disorientated, before she realized where she was. She sat up and groaned. Pete looked up from where he was curled on the floor next to the couch. She remembered snuggling up next to Ed and then…
    He was gone. The sadness she felt surprised her.
    After covering Margarita’s cage, Mitch made her way to the bathroom. She studied her face in the mirror.
    What does Ed see?
    She shook her head and brushed the fuzzy taste out of her mouth before collapsing on her bed. Pete padded in and took up sentry position on the floor next to her. Mitch managed to drift back to sleep despite her sore neck.
    The alarm startled her at six. Mitch swore and blindly swatted at the snooze button, her flailing fingers cutting the alarm off in mid-buzz. She felt around for the off button and rolled over. Outside, the sun lightened the eastern horizon to a grey glow over the tops of the cypress trees. She closed her eyes and thought of Ron’s words about Ed.
    Yes, he’s handsome. Yes, we get along well. But is it worth risking not only our friendship, but our business as well?
    Mitch managed to sleep again, finally waking for good a little before nine, with her head throbbing from oversleeping. She groaned and after uncovering Margarita, headed for the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. She saw the message light blinking on the answering machine on the counter. She hit play.
    Two TV stations, a reporter from the Tribune and one from the Times , and three legitimate customers wanting to charter for the weekend. She wrote down their names and numbers. Then she let Pete out and retrieved her morning paper. Back upstairs, she read the paper over a cup of coffee and bowl of cereal. When the phone rang, she picked it up without thinking.
    “Hello?”
    “Did you sleep well?” It was Ed.
    She sighed. “I have a kink in my neck, and a throbbing headache, but other than that, I’m fine.”
    “Any plans for the day?”
    She swallowed a mouthful of cereal. “Not really. I’m going to try to get in touch with John about the divorce filing. If I can track him down,” she added.
    “I’ll be over at the boat in a couple of hours. I’m going to try to get some chores caught up here.”
    “Okay. Then I’ll see you later.”
    Mitch stared at the phone for a moment after she hung up. Ron’s words still echoed in her mind. She never paid attention to how Ed reacted to her. He was, well, Ed. She wouldn’t deny she wished her nights were a little more fulfilled. She’d even go as far as admitting she was frustrated at times. But once bitten, as the old saying went.
    It still amazed her sometimes that John’s actions bothered her so much. The way she’d found out about him.
    Mitch could still picture the surprise on the woman’s face, a cheap little blonde floozy who worked at the café across the street from John’s old office. Mitch would never forget the calm, detached look on