Between Strangers by Linda Conrad Read Free Book Online Page B

last night as he’d said his piece had quickly gone from hopeful to grateful, and finally settled into need. She’d wanted him as much as he’d wanted her. He was just sure they felt the same draw.
    Almost. He’d almost leaned in for the kiss that would’ve been heaven—and totally inappropriate for the circumstances. He’d raised his hand to touch her face. Her eyes had widened and became the color of rich hot chocolate. He’d almost felt how soft her skin would be against his fingers if he drew them down the satin of her jawline. Almost.
    But when the baby had fussed in his arms and someone had jostled against him in the truck stop hallway on their way to the locker room, he’d come out of the sensual haze with a jolt. That had not been the right place for such a move. And she was most definitely the wrong woman.
    Well, not exactly the wrong woman. In fact, he believed she would’ve been perfectly right for what he’d had in mind. But she wasn’t Lorna. She wasn’tthe woman he’d decided he would be happy spending his life with.
    Certainly he could keep his hands to himself and his brain from heading south long enough to get back home and ask Lorna to marry him. Couldn’t he?
    He rubbed at his chin and looked around the interior of the vehicle, realizing at once that the SUV had grown too warm and the inside of the windshield had fogged over. Someone must’ve been doing some heavy breathing.
    He was starting to lose it. He needed to think.
    Stretching his back muscles and surreptitiously rearranging his too-tight jeans in one smooth move, Lance tried to remember the responsibility lessons he’d learned from the Dine.
    The Four Directions. That’s it. He would review the Four Directions of life in his mind.
    East was the direction of dawn. It would be as good a place to start as any since it was just past dawn now. And East was the thinking direction. Thinking was something he’d better start doing real soon.
    Let’s see…how did the lesson go? A Navajo should think first before he takes a step. Consider each move carefully.
    Yes, that was what he had done when he’d decided to marry Lorna. He’d made the decision that they had a lot in common and would be good mates. He was rather proud of himself for coming to such a sensible conclusion.
    Marcy moaned softly in her sleep and restlessly changed her position under the seat belt. The sight and sound of her all of a sudden sent his brain backdown under his own belt. Shoot. There went thinking for the time being.
    With his mind off in places where it shouldn’t be, Lance didn’t see the gaping pothole in the road until it was too late to keep from hitting it with the right front tire. The vehicle dipped violently and a thunking sound rattled noisily through the SUV. Hell.
    Marcy stirred and opened her eyes. “What…?”
    The baby in the back seat came awake in a flash of fury and fright. In seconds her screams built to nerve-racking.
    â€œIt was just a pothole,” Lance told Marcy over the din.
    â€œYou’d better stop so I can check on Angie and try to calm her down.”
    It would probably be smart for him to stop and check the tire, anyway. He pulled off the road as far as he dared without getting stuck in a snowdrift. They were traveling on a lonely stretch, alongside some rancher’s desolate range land. He’d already noted the barbwire fencing and had been watching the fierce, high-plains wind pile swirling snow deeply up against every post.
    He left the SUV running, with the heated exhaust streaming backward in a frosty haze, but he remembered to pull on the parking brake. Expecting Marcy to climb over the console and between the seats like she did the last time, Lance ignored her, hunched down in his coat and stepped around the hood to check on his front tire.
    The tire looked fine. He kicked it once for good measure, then reached down to run