Gypsy Love: A Gypsy Beach Novel Read Online Free Page A

since that would mean that he would likely end up inside of her room, even if it was only for the length of time it took him to deliver her luggage. He had no trouble with her suitcase and lifted the laptop bag off of her shoulder before she headed up the stairs.
     
    Reminding himself that he was supposed to be on vacation, John left Arley’s room without interrogating her on why she was so upset. As a boy, he’d brought his mother, generally exhausted after working two jobs to make ends meet, an endless barrage of lost puppies, frogs he was certain couldn’t find their way back to the pond, and occasionally half-feral cats that he wanted to feed. He wanted to save them all. Whatever was going on with Arley Copeland, he needed to leave it be. She probably didn’t need his help, anyway.
    Ryan was exiting Evie’s room at the same moment, and his smirk shook John from his abstraction.
    “What?”
    Ryan laughed at him outright. “Nothing. Sienna got you some beer. You want one, or were you gonna try and talk Ms. Copeland into your room tonight, in which case I will join my beautiful fiancée in bed and leave you to your work?”
    “Fuck off, man. I was just being nice.”
    “Uh huh, I just don’t recall you ever carrying any woman’s bags anywhere, except your mama, of course.”
    An irritated huff was John’s only reply as he headed down to the kitchen to locate that beer. Ryan joined him on the back deck with a Coke. Ryan rarely drank as he’d made some incredibly poor decisions during their college days under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol.
    By the time John had downed two bottles of Guinness, the tale about Monica losing her children had spat from his mouth like poison.
    Ryan listened intently to the story, shaking his head at its gut-wrenching conclusion.
    “First case you’ve lost in two years, all because of a dirty judge, but Larriet chewed your ass anyway, right?”
    John nodded and refused to admit that watching what was becoming of his boss was what had driven him to the beach. Larriet was two years from retirement, and he was the biggest asshole John had ever met. When he’d first signed on with Hatcher, Larriet, and Welch, he’d admired the men running the show. They were fighting the good fight, or so he told himself. A lifetime of dismantling people’s lives had lost a great deal of appeal as of late, however.
    “I’m gonna go on to bed.” He stood and disposed of the empty bottles.
    “I really am sorry, man. You’re a freaking rainmaker for that firm, and they know it. Maybe just chill here for a while. Take a break. They’re sure as hell not gonna fire you.”
    “Yeah, I know.” John sighed. “Thanks for letting me stay here. I’ll be fine.”
    As he crested the stairs, his eyes zeroed in on the illumination of light coming from under Arley’s door. She was still awake. He couldn’t quite figure why he cared or why he so desperately wanted to know what she was doing and what she was wearing just then.
    Sliding his door closed after one more gaze back to Arley’s door, he shed his shirt and pants and settled in the bed with his laptop. Too anxious to sleep, he gave into his endless desire to investigate. It’s what made him such a damn good lawyer. He wasn’t certain he wanted to be qualified as a rainmaker for a firm that regularly dismantled families, so he tapped into something that usually made him smile. He had a copy of his favorite Dylan Copeland novel in his briefcase. He always carried it with him, but he decided some new reading material was called for. He was on vacation, after all.
    Logging into the free Wi-Fi Ryan and Sienna offered at the Inn, he quickly opened Amazon. He pretended to care about the recommend purchases list, but a moment later he typed her name in the search box. He smirked, both deeply intrigued and somewhat amused as he took in the covers of her books. It seemed Ms. Arley Copeland wrote Erotic Romance.
    Her father had been an