A Woman To Blame by Susan Connell Read Free Book Online Page A

her shoulder. "Out, you two! Right now."
    "Aw, jeez, Ruthie! Don't send them out," Pappy said. "This is getting interesting."
    "That's all right, Grandfather," Bryn said, leaning down to drop a kiss on Pappy's brow. "I'll be back once I've explained a few things to Captain Parrish." Without looking in Rick's direction, she breezed out of the room.
    "Sorry, Pappy." Rick swore under his breath as he headed around the bed for the door. Yanking it open, he went out after her into the hall. She wasn't there.
    He found her standing a few yards away in the middle of a pale blue alcove, her hands primly folded near the juncture of her thighs and her eyes fixed straight ahead. Except for that exposed shoulder, she was a living shrine to dignity. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood for a religious experience.
    Several charged seconds ticked by as he tried to keep his eyes off her temptingly displayed flesh. The graceful angularity of her shoulder was hard to ignore. The more he stared, the more it seemed to beg for his touch. Clearing his throat, he shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Think we raised his blood pressure?"
    "Probably, since mine is about to go through the roof," she said, staring at the fire extinguisher hanging on the opposite wall.
    The silence returned, broken by an occasional ringing telephone and soft, distant laughter. He rubbed the back of his neck and wondered if he should sit down and be quiet. He started for a chair, then stopped beside her. The hell he'd be quiet. He would give her one last chance, and if she didn't want to listen, he would can the effort to communicate with her. Permanently.
    Forcing his voice low, he turned to her. "Look, Bryn, I still think I'm on track about the new restaurant. Even if you won't face facts, Pappy has the right to hear another opinion."
    Crossing her arms in front of her, she tapped her shiny red fingernails against her forearms before turning her wide-eyed gaze in his direction. She studied him as she licked the corner of her mouth thoughtfully. "You are right about one thing."
    Yesss! Triumph at last. She'd come to her senses; there was justice in the world. Well, whatever it was that she was about to tell him, he would accept it stoically. He lowered his chin, hoping she'd interpret the gesture as an invitation to begin. While he waited, he fought back the urge to gather her into his arms and track down the source of her scent. In the morning, after her shower, where did she dab it? He pictured himself starting the search at the high hollow of her shoulder, then nuzzling her all the way to that place between her breasts... and maybe lower. As if she'd read his thoughts, Bryn's lips parted with a tiny gasp. Share with me, Bryn. What are you thinking while I'm making love to you in my mind? She was tilting her face up to meet his. The closer he came, the sweeter her lips looked. At the moment Rick sensed their tickling touch, a jolting voice called out to them from down the hall.
    "If you two can control yourselves, you can go back into him. One at a time."
    He pulled up first. "Go on in. I'll come back later," he said, as reality crashed between them. She started away from him, but he reached out to stop her. "Before you go, I'm still curious."
    "About what?" she asked, looking slightly shaken by what had almost happened.
    "What is that one thing you think I'm right about?"
    She hesitated, then pressed her fingertips against the front of his shirt and looked up at him through her thick lashes. For one pulse of a moment he thought she was going to kiss him. Really kiss him. His hands itched to hold her close and help her make it a long, wet one.
    But he wanted more than a kiss. He wanted to bury himself in the tantalizing puzzle she was to him.
    "Oh, yes," she whispered as if she'd just remembered. "You were right when you said that whatever he does with his restaurant is none of your business." Stepping away from him, she adjusted her striped top, then started