All of Me Read Online Free Page A

yes. I’m a special needs teacher, but I have a degree in occupational therapy, too.”
    He nodded, hoping she’d keep talking. He was getting all kinds of ideas flitting through his mind about a character for his book just from her voice alone. Each time she stopped talking, the ideas drifted away. Which was interesting, because didn’t all women talk? A lot? Not her. Maybe she was nervous, given his celebrity. How he hated that.
    Just as he was about to encourage more, she pointed to the house. “I should get back inside. It’s getting late.”
    It was barely nine.
    She walked away, and Alec watched until she disappeared behind the dunes. Not even a
good-bye
, or
see you later
, or
nice to meet you
. He shook his head and walked back the way he’d come.
    *   *   *
    Faith closed the back door to the Covington guesthouse and leaned against it. Exhaustion and nerves warred through her body and she fought to rein them in. She wasn’t used to all this attention, and today she’d received a lot. Well, since arriving in Wilmington, anyway.
    She thought she’d be uncomfortable meeting Cole Covington for the first time, but he was an unusual mix of genuine and nice. Faith allowed herself to relax in his company after a few minutes. Not so with Alec. Perhaps because he’d snuck up on her in the dark. She’d picked a time without anyone else on the beach to go out and take in her first real glimpse of the ocean. Even the air was different. Lighter, and scented with an odd mix of fresh fish and brine. The water lapping at her feet was cool and hypnotizing. She’d been so wrapped up in a mix of emotions, she hadn’t realized she wasn’t alone.
    What he must think of her. Then again, he probably wasn’t thinking of her at all. Why would he?
    His fame didn’t faze her and hadn’t been what had brought on a sudden flare of nerves. Authors, even ones as big as Alec Winston, were just people like the rest of them. Flesh and blood and souls in want of something. No, it was the way he’d stared at her, like he was picking apart her brain. A puzzle to fit together. In all her years, no one had ever wanted to know what made her tick, and in two minutes he gave her the impression he desired nothing more.
    Maybe it was a writer thing.
    She focused on why she was here, bringing Ginny to mind and smiling. Ginny had been happy to see her. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened either.
    Shaking the thoughts away, she shoved off the door and made her way to the living room to get her luggage. Her internal clock was declaring bedtime. She hadn’t even really had the chance to settle in, but there would be time for that. Time was something she had in plenty.
    Taking her cell phone out of her pocket, she checked the screen. No messages. Same as the last hundred times she’d looked. A pang of disappointment hit her right in the stomach. She didn’t know why she expected her parents to call. And it was after nine. Too late for her to try them. They’d be in bed by now.
    She fished her pajamas and toothbrush out of her suitcase and came across the photo of her and Hope that she’d hastily shoved there before getting on the road. She sat back on her heels and stared at the two of them, her chest growing tight.
    Ten years and it still seemed like yesterday that they’d buried her sister. Faith hadn’t felt whole since. In fact, the hole in her chest seemed to grow with each passing year. One day it would consume her until nothing remained but a black void.
    “We finally made it to the beach,” she whispered, tears blurring her eyes.
    She hadn’t cried in years, and now twice in one day she’d had to bite them back. She sighed and rose to her feet, setting the picture on the small fireplace mantel next to a conch shell. Hope would’ve loved it here.
    Faith turned, doing a quick survey of her new place. The sea-foam-green walls and white wicker furniture echoed the simple fashion of every beach house—at least