Bound to Be His (The Archer Family Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

don't have the energy. Or the patience. Or the—"
    She stopped speaking in order to swat his hand away from the radio, but Bret Michaels was already crooning about basements and talking dirty again.
    "Do you mean to tell me this is better than Jewel?" Shay crooked an eyebrow.
    "Wouldn't you rather listen to music about sneaking around when you were a teenager and getting lucky as opposed to breaking up with someone who was supposed to love you?"
    Objectively, Shay guessed it was a profound kind of question, but Matt asked it the same way he asked everything else—like it and the answer to it didn't matter to him in the slightest. Like it was an afterthought.
    Still, Shay considered for a minute. "I don't know. I don't have a lot of experience with either."
    "A woman who looks like you?" It wasn't a come-on. He seemed genuinely shocked.
    A warm rush settled over her skin, but she pushed it away as she turned onto the main highway toward Honolulu. "I'm not saying I've never had a boyfriend. I'm just saying—"
    "You never snuck around and got lucky?"
    "I wasn't really the sneaking around kind. Or, really, I never had to sneak around." She shrugged. "My mom was the one who did the sneaking."
    Suddenly, she stopped. This was a dangerous area. Mothers. She had to change the subject before—
    "And let me guess—nobody ever broke up with you either? You were always the heartbreaker."
    "I was always the one who knew when to call things quits. Not heartbreak, per se. Besides, I can't say that I remember you ever being too torn up over anyone."
    "Hey, I've had my moments," Matt shot back. "When that foreign exchange student went back to Russia, I was devastated."
    "That foreign exchange student? Don't you remember her name?"
    "I think it was Olga or Ina or... It was something like that. She didn't have the best command of English." Matt shook his head. "She knew how to get a message across, though. I can tell you—"
    "I'm sure your point has been made. In fact..." Shay turned the dial on the radio until a twanging low melody burst through the speakers.
    "Ugh, Sarah McLaughlin?" He moaned.
    She rolled her eyes and hummed along with the tune. Luckily, she was saved from another bout of defending herself when the party store came into view on their right, and she swerved into the parking lot.
    When they'd parked, Matt ambled from the car and grabbed a cart and then led her through the automatic doors.
    The place was cold, and she ran her hands over her uncovered biceps. Why any place in Hawaii would be air-conditioned, she had no idea. Every day was a perfect eighty degrees as far as she could tell. Matt eyed her for a moment, glanced down at his windbreaker, and then said, "You want to borrow my jacket?"
    "No, no, I'm fine. Really." She rubbed her shoulders one more time, but just when she was about to release her grip, she felt something warm and soft nudging her arm. She looked down to find Matt’s navy coat in his outstretched hand.
    “I said—” she started, but he shook his head.
    “Don’t be stupid.” He bumped the coat against her arm again, and she took it with uneasy hands.
    “Thanks,” she murmured, and shrugged it on. The inside was lined with fleece, perfect for all the evening or high altitude games he’d had to play on the road. It was more comfortable than she might have expected, and it smelled musky and manly, like crisp autumn leaves and clove. A scent that belonged entirely to Matt.
    She breathed deeply without thinking about it, and then, quick to divert his attention, led him down an aisle filled with wedding favors toward the back of the store.
    "Damn, you are walking with some serious purpose."
    "Lots of practice." She shook her head and did her best to focus on the task at hand. Considering she'd thrown her first bachelorette party at the age of sixteen and had given ten more since then—the vast majority of which had been for her own mother—she was all too familiar with the layout of party