More Than Lust (Courthouse Connections Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

“Motor’s fine. Am I right in assuming that it takes at least two people to handle Miss Barbara ’s sails?” She looked around the deck, taking in the main mast near the cockpit and a smaller one near the stern .
    “Yeah. I’d practically forgotten that Uncle Hugh had the rigging modified. When I was a teenager, she didn’t have the rear mast, and I could handle the mainsail alone—at least in good weather like we’ve got today. Hold on unless you want to wait in the cabin while I get us underway.”
    While Gray checked the fluid gauges, Andi curled up on a padded bench near the cockpit and watched him with apparent interest. “You seem like you know your way around boats. Should I put on a life preserver?”
    He grinned. “You’re sitting on one life preserver and leaning against another. No need to put one on unless I tell you to. If we hit a patch of rough water, grab one and put your arms through the loops on the underside.”
    “I thought from TV shows I’ve seen that boats have life preservers that look like vests, and that most of them are orange.”
    Gray laughed. “Snap-on jackets are mainly for kids, or for adults to wear in boats small enough that they’re likely to fall overboard if they try to stand up while the boat’s in motion. Just hold on to the rail behind you while I start the engine. Miss Barbara has an older diesel inboard, and it sometimes coughs and sputters a little when it first fires up, until I put it in gear and we start moving.”
    “Okay.” She did as he asked, gripping the aluminum rail behind where she was sitting. Smart woman, he thought as he started the motor and adjusted its idle rate. When he put the boat in gear and backed out of the slip, she loosened her grip on the rail and relaxed against the cushions, her gaze shifting between the slowly changing scenery and his hands on the controls.
    It was a rare female in his experience who would admit she hadn’t experienced everything there was to see. He liked that Andi seemed to have faith that he’d take care of her, without at least pretending fear to get him to pay her more attention. Gray liked that, along with the fact that she didn’t chatter like a magpie while he maneuvered out of some tight spaces in the marina.
    When he turned into the open water of the bay, Gray set a course for one of his favorite points for watching sunsets—a buoy just past where the bay veered westward, away from Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard and MacDill Air Force Base. Once he was sure he was on course, he turned on the autopilot and turned to Andi.
    “You’ll soon be able to see the Sunshine Skyway at dusk. It’s pretty awesome if you’ve never seen it from this end of the bay.” He paused, then continued. “Ted said he thought you were a Tampa native. Want to tell me something about what you like and dislike, since I’m planning for us to spend a lot of time together once I get back from my next assignment?”
    “Well, you know I’m a lawyer. I work for the state attorney, trying to put criminal defendants behind bars. I’ve worked there for close to three years, ever since I finished law school at Stetson. I’ve seen a good bit of the Skyway from the St. Pete side, since I had to drive I-275 every day to get to my classes. What about you?” Andi shifted her gaze from him to a small sailboat going the opposite direction, passing by them on the opposite side of the boat.
    “When I finished Harvard Law five years ago, I came back home long enough to pass the Florida Bar, but I wasn’t about to settle down and join Winston-Roe, even though my dad was a partner there and my maternal grandfather was one of its founders. Since I wanted to travel and have some excitement, I signed on with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
    “Around a year ago, my mother finagled with some of her political buddies to get me based here in their Tampa office, but I’ve finally outfoxed her. I managed to score this undercover assignment in