Love Me Sweet (A Bell Harbor Novel) Read Online Free

never give up. Frustrated, Delaney tapped the phone’s surface really hard , but the effort was unsatisfying. “I don’t want to talk, Mel. I’m fine but I don’t feel like talking, OK?”
    “Michigan?” Melody’s voice was anything but melodious. “What the hell are you doing in Michigan?”
    Delaney looked out the window as if her sister might be poised on her front step, ready to storm in, followed by the flashing cameras. “What makes you think I’m in Michigan?”
    “You have a location finder on your phone, moron. It was pretty easy. I’ve known where you’ve been this whole time.”
    “Shit.” That was a distinct disadvantage of trying to hide in this digital world. Delaney might need to buy a new phone and get off the family plan. “Who else knows I’m here?”
    “Nobody, just me, but seriously, how did you end up in Michigan?” Melody’s voice mellowed and Delaney could picture her sister just then, lying in the big hammock on their back deck, soaking up the warm sun. Delaney hadn’t been warm since Nevada.
    She straightened her shoulders as if Melody could see. “Michigan has its appeal. Condé Nast Traveler said it was gorgeous here. Apparently the sand dunes and beaches are magnificent, although I haven’t seen any yet. So far everything is just piles of snow.”
    Melody paused on the other end. “You went to Michigan because of its beautiful beaches? In January?”
    That may have been a flaw in Delaney’s plan but she wasn’t going to admit to it. “I wanted to get a good parking space. So, what’s it going to cost me for you to keep this a secret?” Everyone in her family had a price. Even her, and she was willing to pay for her privacy.
    “I don’t know yet,” Melody answered. “For starters, how about you tell me what you’re hoping to accomplish with this stunt. Mom is climbing the walls, you know, and she’s taking it out on all of us. And what am I supposed to tell people who ask where you are? Everyone is getting worried because you’re not answering your calls.”
    Delaney pulled a box of cereal from the grocery bag and put it in the cabinet. “Tell everyone I’m at a spa. And it’s not a stunt. I just needed to get away from the rabid media for a while and be on my own. Tell Mom not to worry. I’m fine.”
    “I’m sure she’ll be glad to hear that, Lane, but what she also wants to know is when the hell you’ll be back. She can’t keep putting off our production people, you know. We have a show to make and they’re all pretty eager to talk to you. You’re the girl of the hour, you know.”
    Delaney couldn’t quite name the tone in her sister’s voice. It was a fine line between derision, amusement, and envy.
    “I bet they are. Can’t they just read the tabloids like everybody else?”
    “The tabs are just recycling the same stuff over and over. Our producers want to see your reaction to all of this. They want to know what really went down.” Then she giggled. “Oh, sorry.”
    What had gone down was Delaney.
    “Thanks, Mel. That’s very sensitive of you.”
    “I know. It just slipped out. Oh! Shit. Sorry. Again.” She didn’t sound sorry. Not in the least. “But listen, Lane,” her sister continued, “this story is money in the bank, but only if you come home and tell your side of it.”
    “I don’t want to tell my side. I just want everyone to mind their own business.” She plunked a box of crackers on the shelf next to the cereal.
    “Nobody in Beverly Hills minds their own business, and besides, you signed a contract to do a second season, remember? The producers are expecting you here.”
    “So they can sue me if they want to. If you, Mom, Dad, and Roxanne want to parade around in front of the TV cameras and yank all the skeletons from our closets, be my guest. I’m done with it. One year was enough for me. The whole show was supposed to be about Dad anyway. Why are they so interested in us?” Delaney reached into the grocery bag and