Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tami Hoag
stand on end. Marilee watched with
guarded fascination as some tense, silent communication passed between
their eyes. Will broke contact first, turning for the door without a
word.
J.D. turned toward Marilee, his gaze heating from gray ice to molten
pewter as it lingered on her lower lip. Marilee fought the urge to
squirm in her seat. It was all she could do to keep from covering her
mouth with her hand.
Warmth rose inside her. She called it embarrassment and knew she was
lying.
Rafferty met her eyes and smiled, the slight curve of his lips radiating
male arrogance. "You don't have to like me, Marilee," he murmured.
His meaning was crystal clear. Marilee glared at him, wishing they
weren't in quite so public a place so she could feel free to rip him up
with her opinion of him.
Still, she couldn't let him get away unscathed. She gave him a look of
utter disgust and mouthed Fuck you.
The gray eyes darkened, the smile took on a feral quality. "Anytime,
city girl."
"When hell freezes over."
He leaned down close, his eyes never leaving hers. He curled his big
hands into the fabric of her old denim jacket and pulled the edges
closed. "Better button up, sweetheart. I feel a cold spell coming on."
Marilee shoved his hands away. "It's called rejection, slick," she said
through her teeth. "Have the local schoolmarm look it up for you."
J.D. stepped back, chuckling at her sass. He tipped his hat ever so
slightly, conceding the round but not the war.
"Miz Jennings."
Marilee said nothing. She felt used and furious. Will Rafferty had set
her up and egged her on to get a rise out of his brother. And J.D. . . .
She decided the initials stood for jackass Deluxe.
Nora appeared beside the booth, rag in hand, and leaned across the table
to wipe away the crumbs Will had left. "Those Raffertys are enough to
give a girl cardiac arrest," she said matter-of-factly. "They don't make
men like that anymore."
"No," Marilee said, scowling as she watched J.D. Rafferty through the
front window. He climbed into a battered blue and gray four-by-four
truck with STARS AND BARS emblazoned across the bug guard. "I thought
they broke the mold after the Stone Age."
"It was a joke. Lighten up, will you?"
J.D. didn't say a word as he climbed into the cab of the battered Ford
pickup. He nursed the engine to life carefully. The old truck had
153,000 hard miles on it. It needed to go a few more. There was no extra
cash for buying new pickups. What money didn't get eaten up this year by
Will's gambling or by the astronomical property taxes they had to pay
because of the influx of elitists to the Eden valley would be sunk right
back into the operation.
Fortify and strengthen. A siege mentality. Well, by God, if they weren't
in a war, he didn't know what else to call it.
And in this war, Miz Marilee Jennings stood squarely on the other side
of the DMZ.
"She's a friend of Lucy MacAdam's," he said tightly, pronouncing the
name macadam, like the pavement. She had been that hard, that abrasive.
Even in bed she had had sharp edges.
He backed the pickup away from the curb and headed north on Main,
automatically glancing in the rearview mirror to check the feed sacks.
Zip, their black and white border collie, stood with his front paws on a
stack of plump bags and surveyed the passing scenery with a big grin on
his face. Behind them a maroon Jaguar putted impatiently. J.D. eased off
on the gas.
"So she's a friend of Lucy's," Will snapped irritably.
"So what?"
The sun cutting through the clouds pierced his eyeballs and rejuvenated
the hangover he had fought off with mass quantities of caffeine and
food. He pulled a pair Of mirrored sunglasses out of his shirt pocket
and slid them on.
"So she's one of them."
"Jesus. She came to visit a friend who turns out to be dead. Give her a
break."
"Why?
guarded fascination as some tense, silent communication passed between
their eyes. Will broke contact first, turning for the door without a
word.
J.D. turned toward Marilee, his gaze heating from gray ice to molten
pewter as it lingered on her lower lip. Marilee fought the urge to
squirm in her seat. It was all she could do to keep from covering her
mouth with her hand.
Warmth rose inside her. She called it embarrassment and knew she was
lying.
Rafferty met her eyes and smiled, the slight curve of his lips radiating
male arrogance. "You don't have to like me, Marilee," he murmured.
His meaning was crystal clear. Marilee glared at him, wishing they
weren't in quite so public a place so she could feel free to rip him up
with her opinion of him.
Still, she couldn't let him get away unscathed. She gave him a look of
utter disgust and mouthed Fuck you.
The gray eyes darkened, the smile took on a feral quality. "Anytime,
city girl."
"When hell freezes over."
He leaned down close, his eyes never leaving hers. He curled his big
hands into the fabric of her old denim jacket and pulled the edges
closed. "Better button up, sweetheart. I feel a cold spell coming on."
Marilee shoved his hands away. "It's called rejection, slick," she said
through her teeth. "Have the local schoolmarm look it up for you."
J.D. stepped back, chuckling at her sass. He tipped his hat ever so
slightly, conceding the round but not the war.
"Miz Jennings."
Marilee said nothing. She felt used and furious. Will Rafferty had set
her up and egged her on to get a rise out of his brother. And J.D. . . .
She decided the initials stood for jackass Deluxe.
Nora appeared beside the booth, rag in hand, and leaned across the table
to wipe away the crumbs Will had left. "Those Raffertys are enough to
give a girl cardiac arrest," she said matter-of-factly. "They don't make
men like that anymore."
"No," Marilee said, scowling as she watched J.D. Rafferty through the
front window. He climbed into a battered blue and gray four-by-four
truck with STARS AND BARS emblazoned across the bug guard. "I thought
they broke the mold after the Stone Age."
"It was a joke. Lighten up, will you?"
J.D. didn't say a word as he climbed into the cab of the battered Ford
pickup. He nursed the engine to life carefully. The old truck had
153,000 hard miles on it. It needed to go a few more. There was no extra
cash for buying new pickups. What money didn't get eaten up this year by
Will's gambling or by the astronomical property taxes they had to pay
because of the influx of elitists to the Eden valley would be sunk right
back into the operation.
Fortify and strengthen. A siege mentality. Well, by God, if they weren't
in a war, he didn't know what else to call it.
And in this war, Miz Marilee Jennings stood squarely on the other side
of the DMZ.
"She's a friend of Lucy MacAdam's," he said tightly, pronouncing the
name macadam, like the pavement. She had been that hard, that abrasive.
Even in bed she had had sharp edges.
He backed the pickup away from the curb and headed north on Main,
automatically glancing in the rearview mirror to check the feed sacks.
Zip, their black and white border collie, stood with his front paws on a
stack of plump bags and surveyed the passing scenery with a big grin on
his face. Behind them a maroon Jaguar putted impatiently. J.D. eased off
on the gas.
"So she's a friend of Lucy's," Will snapped irritably.
"So what?"
The sun cutting through the clouds pierced his eyeballs and rejuvenated
the hangover he had fought off with mass quantities of caffeine and
food. He pulled a pair Of mirrored sunglasses out of his shirt pocket
and slid them on.
"So she's one of them."
"Jesus. She came to visit a friend who turns out to be dead. Give her a
break."
"Why?
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