A Man Like Morgan Kane by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online Page B

three people inside the summerhouse. Claudia.
    Anne Marie. And Morgan. For one brief moment her heart stopped. She'd thought she would never see him again. And she had convinced herself that she didn't care, that she no longer felt anything for him.
    She hadn't realized seeing him again would be this hard. Sixteen years. A lifetime ago. She wasn't the same naive, lovesick girl. And he wasn't the same rebellious hell-raiser. They were two different people now. Strangers.
    Strangers who just happened to share a child.
    She could do this, she told herself. She could. She was a strong woman, wasn't she? She had survived a marriage to a man she didn't love. She had raised Anne Marie without a father. She had built a thriving Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    business. And she had managed to keep her sanity after she'd been arrested for Jimmy Farraday's murder and spent a torturous weekend in theJeffersonCountyjail.
    Meeting Morgan Kane again should be easy, shouldn't it? Squaring her shoulders, tilting her chin and taking a deep breath,Bethanywalked toward the gazebo. When she was close enough to hear her daughter's laughter, she halted.
    The man who looked at and listened to Anne Marie suddenly turned his head and stared atBethany. She would have recognized him anywhere, despite the changes in his appearance. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been a twenty-two-year-old boy. Handsome to the point of being beautiful. Tall, lean and muscular. Now he was a thirty-eight-year-old man. Still handsome, but the edge of youthful beauty had been replaced with pure, gloriously rugged masculinity.
    He glared at her with cold, intense blue-gray eyes. Eyes that had once, long ago, softened and warmed when he'd made love to her.
    When Morgan shoved back his chair and stood, Claudia glanced toward the pathway whereBethany waited.
    "Bethany, dear, please come join us," Claudia said. "We're finishing our dessert, but I'll have Ida Mae bring you a plate."
    Anne Marie swirled around in her chair. "Mama! Guess what?" She shot up out of the chair, flew out of the gazebo and ran up the walkway. "Morgan has agreed to take the job. He's going to be your bodyguard. And he's going to find out who really murdered Jimmy."
    Bethanyopened her arms to her daughter, who hugged her fiercely. Glancing around Anne Marie's shoulder, she stared at Morgan. Their gazes met for an instant, thenBethanyinspected him thoroughly. He was bigger, broader than he'd been, his body honed to perfection. His muscular frame appeared confined by the tailored brown slacks and pale yellow cotton pullover he wore.
    When he stepped down and out of the summerhouse, his dark blond hair shimmered with natural gold and bronze highlights. He walked toward her, strutting almost, his bearing military trained
    "Hello,Bethany." He held out his hand.
    She gazed down at that big hand, then hesitantly accepted it for a brief, cordial shake. Once he touched her, her stomach tightened painfully. He held her hand securely within his. She jerked her hand away and stared up at him. Even with her heels on, she was still a good seven inches shorter than he was at six three.
    "Hello, Morgan."
    Anne Marie stared adoringly up at Morgan, then slipped her arm around her mother's waist. "Isn't it wonderful? Everything is going to be all right now that Morgan is here. He'll take care of everything. I knew the minute Nana said he'd finally come home, that it was meant to be. He came back just when we needed him." Anne Marie reached out, grabbed Morgan's arm and pulled him toward her. "Well, how does it feel seeing each other again after sixteen years?"
    Morgan's jaw tightened. His eyes narrowed as he glanced around Anne Marie and glared atBethany.
    She stared back at him, silently screaming for him not to look at her that way. With such cold, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    unemotional scrutiny.
    How did she feel? Numb.