Carolina Heat Read Online Free

receiving end of a lesson on snap judgments. She’d been a jerk. Time to make a u-turn with this conversation and start over.
    “I jumped to completely unfounded conclusions, didn’t I?” Annabelle looked up at him, repentant. “You’ve been teasing me this whole time.”
    “Guilty as charged.” He threw up his hands in mock surrender. “I wondered how long it would take you to catch on. Perpetuating the myth of Johnny Reb is hard work. I wasn’t sure I could keep a straight face much longer.”
    To her dismay, his accent had now all but disappeared. “I’m sorry I was so rude,” she said. “I don’t know what to make of you, Mark, and you’ve been nothing but kind. It truly is sweet of you to show me around.” She broke into a fit of giggles.
    Mark gave her a bemused stare. “Annabelle? What is it?”
    “It’s just...those things you said in that exaggerated accent...” She giggled helplessly again, and put a hand on his biceps to steady herself. His hand covered hers a moment later. “About swooning; you made it sound like a subject women minor in at college.”
    “Does this mean you won’t believe me if I mention the ‘airs and graces’ scholarship my cousin received from the College of Charleston?” He grinned back at her. It was a wide, easy grin that made her feel a part of the joke, rather than the butt of it. One flash of white teeth against his killer tan was all it took to remind her it had been a while since she’d laughed like this with a man. In Annabelle’s experience, any man confronted with one of her admittedly feminist rants ran immediately in the opposite direction. Mark’s roll-with-the-punches attitude was a refreshing change.
    “At this point, I’m not sure I’d believe it if you told me America has fifty states.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get me started. Puerto Rico pays taxes, but they don’t get a star on the flag? Lucky for you, there’s no time to get into it now.” Mark gestured grandly with both hands. “We’ve arrived at our destination.”
    They were at a plaza on the edge of the harbor. A long pier jutted out into the ocean, lined with quaint gliders big enough to hold six people. Immediately in front of them a whimsical modern fountain spouted water out of brightly colored tiles as people stepped on them.
    “Welcome to Charleston Harbor.”
    “Mmm—this is wonderful. I can feel the ocean breeze.” She lifted her hair off the back of her neck. “I’m cooler already.”
    “This is nothing. Wait until we get to the water’s edge.”
    Annabelle’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She made an apologetic face at Mark and answered.
    “Sorry I had to cut you off last night, Carlyle. Thought the stewardess was about to rip the phone right out of my hand.”
    About time he called. Also, the worst possible time. “Ralph, I’m in a very public place. Can I call you back?”
    “No need. Let me lay all my cards on the table. I’m asking you to go way out on a limb here, and I need you to do it all by yourself.”
    A tingle of intrigue shivered up her spine. “You’ve got my attention.” She took a few steps away from Mark, careful to keep her expression blank.
    “Last month, my brother-in-law took a little vacation down in South Carolina. Tad’s a huge Civil War buff. He was on a pilgrimage to see Fort Sumter and everything else remotely connected with the war. But after a week he disappeared.”
    Annabelle’s eyes widened in spite of herself. She waited for further elaboration. Ralph must’ve put her on speakerphone, because she could hear leather creak as he got up from his chair and began to pace.
    “Tad’s a curator up in Boston. He was scheduled to only be gone five days because of a gala at his museum the next week. When he didn’t show up the day he was due back, his staff started calling around. My wife panicked immediately,” he snorted in disgust, “and I ignored her. Told her he was probably camped out on some battlefield. Thanks