Dee, Lavada - Nothing to Lose [Blackhawk Brothers] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) by Lavada Dee Read Free Book Online Page A

how good it felt to be rested. Nights no longer held terror for her, and she slept straight through to morning. To make it even better, she was dreaming, and they weren’t the nightmares she had become used to. If a certain beautiful man haunted them, so much the better. It made falling asleep something she increasingly looked forward to.
    Galynn had started automating the office. Deep in thought, she didn’t hear Cooper until he stood right next to her desk. At his voice, she jumped and held up her arms to fend off a blow. Cooper’s voice turned husky with emotion. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re going to ruin your eyes working in the dark like this.”
    She hadn’t realized it had gotten so late. The day had been sunny, and there hadn’t been a need to turn on the desk light earlier. Stretching, she didn’t think about how the fabric of her sweater showed the contours of her figure until she looked up and saw Cooper’s eyes. Her face heated up, and she quickly lowered her arms. Cooper didn’t move. She saw him take a deep breath and swallow. The muscles clenched low in her stomach, and she felt an unfamiliar pressure. Her eyes widened as her gaze lowered to his lips.
    Doors slamming jolted her back to reality. Reaching over, she snapped on her desk lamp. Cooper held his stance for a second longer, whispering, “Later,” as if it were a promise.
    Gus, as usual, was the first one through the door. Taking off his hat, he raked his hand through his hair. “Wow, I think it’s dropped twenty degrees in the last hour. Bet we’re in for a doozy of a storm tonight. What’s with Fridays anyway? The last couple have been stormy.”
    Ignoring Cooper, he leaned a hip on Galynn’s desk. “So, have any plans for tonight?”
    Gus was young, she guessed at a maybe a year older than her. But that was in chronological years, not in experience, where she had a good ten years on him. The other men had all gotten in from outside, and a few eyebrows rose. What could the kid be thinking? You didn’t ask a lady out with an audience.
    Galynn didn’t miss a beat and quickly defused Gus’s faux pas. “Plans, sure, everyone has plans for Fridays.” She winked at him to ease the rejection, and he rewarded her by a big grin that said he would try again.
    It didn’t take long for the men to file back out for home. Cooper had told her earlier that for the last couple of months they’d worked six and sometimes seven days to beat the weather and get the mall to the point where they could work inside. They would be busy all winter, but they wouldn’t be under the pressure of earlier. With their workweek back to normal, the men could give into fatigue. They were obviously looking forward to a weekend off.
    “Let’s follow their example and get out of here. I still can hardly believe all you’ve gotten done.” Cooper pulled Galynn’s snow boots out of the closet.
    Galynn went about turning off the computer and rinsing out the coffeepot. By the time they stepped out the door, it had started snowing again. The first few nights, Cooper asked if she wanted to drive the truck down to the house, but she always declined and now he didn’t ask anymore. She loved the walk even when the wind was blowing and it felt like twenty degrees below freezing. Tonight there wasn’t any wind, and the snow came down in huge, fluffy flakes. As they crested the hill, the lake came into view and Galynn sucked in her breath at the sight. “I feel like I’m in a picture postcard.”
    Branches bent with the weight of snow, and the dock was a blur under a blanket of white. In unison, they both stopped as time stood still. Cooper moved behind Galynn and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back, resting her head against his chest. She knew she should pull away like she’d done before, but she couldn’t make herself move. This moment felt just too perfect.
    “We have to move, or they’ll find us frozen to this spot in the morning,”