Falling For Nick Read Online Free

making out with girls? Until Clea. He looked across the street at The Coffee House. He'd never figured Clea for the type of woman to stay in this one-block town. The town of Port Bliss existed for the tourists, the rich, the people who lived seven miles up the mountain on Lake Bliss year-round, or in the summer. The locals here worked thirty minutes away at the factory in nearby Bradley, or like his mother, held low paying jobs in town.
    The apartment above The Coffee House had to be about the same size as the one he stood in now. Billy told him Clea lived there. Why would she live in town when her mother owned one of the largest homes on the lake? He'd been inside the Rose house on Lake Bliss. In his eyes, the place had been a palace, fit for a princess. The perfect setting for Clea. The house had been filled with plush carpets, white furniture, with a dramatic lakefront view. Living on the lake meant you had money, lots of it. And while Clea's family might not have as much money as some, her father was a doctor, a pillar of the community. What the Rose family had lacked in wealth, they'd made up for in respectability.
    A movement in The Coffee House caught his attention. On his way over, he'd seen Clea working behind the counter. Billy had told him Clea co-owned the shop with Mitzi, her best friend from high school. That was another thing that didn't fit. Clea had wanted to be a photographer. The pictures she'd done in high school had won awards, earning her a scholarship to The Seattle Art Institute. Why hadn't she used her talent? A million questions ran through his mind. He wanted to ask Clea what had happened to her dreams, but knew he had no right.
    "The place is a mess."
    Nick turned at the sound of his brother's voice.
    Billy came inside and set a box of cleaning supplies down on the kitchen table. That done, he went back to the door and pulled it shut.
    "Leave the door open." Nick came away from the window, his emotions as mixed as his memories. "The place needs to air out."
    "It smells the same as always," Billy said with a shrug, but he opened the door. "You can't air out thirty years of bad living. Why don't you stay with me? It's worked out okay the past couple of nights, right?"
    "Thanks for the offer, but I don't want to crowd you." He didn't want to stay anywhere else, not while Clea lived across the street.
    While he'd been in prison he'd done nothing but think about Clea and John and how he'd win them back, but reality had intruded the minute he'd been set free. A terrible fear had begun to grow in him, a fear laced with doubts and regrets. Instead of coming home, he'd taken a job in Bradley, giving himself time to breathe, to figure out his next move. Three months had slipped by since his release, three months where he'd almost managed to convince himself that John and Clea were better off without him; but now, after seeing her, he couldn't walk away. Standing close to her and inhaling her sweet scent had brought back memories he'd thought long buried.
    He'd forgotten how beautiful she was, all that long blonde hair, and those soft green eyes. He'd seen those eyes burn with desire for him, but yesterday, he'd seen them bright with fear. And when she'd run from him, he'd been unable to let her go without a confrontation. She'd been afraid, and that saddened him. More than anything he wanted to talk to her, but knew he needed to give her a few days to get used to the idea he'd come home; then he'd move forward with his plan to meet with her.
    He didn't want his son to think he didn't give a damn. It's what Nick thought about his own father and it hurt, a deep down hurt that never went away. Prison had given him time to think, to form a plan, but reality was a million times harder. Could he win Clea and John back? The thought terrified him more than being caught alone in prison with no weapon, his back unprotected.
    "I'm glad you're here, Nick," Billy said, his words dragging Nick back to the present. Billy