Fatal Wild Child by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online Page A

to cabin, too, connecting them all. There were secondary, narrower paths that ran between the cabins that the individual cabin users could use to get to the lake itself, or around to the back of their own cabins. Every path, both primary and secondary, was well shoveled and perfectly dry and clear of snow.
    The silence here always astonished her. When she stopped and listened, she could hear her own heartbeat. The snow muffled everything, and she could hear for miles.
    As she passed the smaller chalets and cabins, she could hear movement and conversations inside. Her extended family tended to take over the lakeside corner of the private cabins at Jasper Park Lodge at this time of year and her father paid well to ensure they were given the privacy and defenses against the media they needed. Jasper Park Lodge had been catering to such clientele for nearly a century and was very good at fending off incursions. Christmas at Jasper was a Sherborne tradition.
    Gabrielle stepped into the big chalet her parents used and slid off her coat. A waiter was already hovering. He offered to take her coat, his eyes brightening at her entrance. She had been recognized, even though he remained silent. The staff at the lodge was the most discreet and polite in the world. She smiled at him and gave him her coat, put her camera bag on the side table and peered around the big palm in the entrance toward the sitting room. "Is everyone already here?"
    "I believe you are the last to arrive, Ms. Sherborne," the waiter said. He handed her coat to a more junior staffer, who hurried away with it.
    She stepped into the sitting room proper, bracing herself for the fun and games ahead, and stopped dead.
    Seth O'Connor stood with her father, a whiskey glass in his hand.
    He wore a suit that wouldn't look out of place at a party in L.A., but what he did to it, with his shoulders and chest, and his tight hips, made her heart thud and her stomach do a little roll. It was in a dark color. Blue, of course, which made his eyes look that much bluer. But instead of the standard issue white shirt, he wore black.
    The tie was the same color as his eyes, which just drew attention to them. Did he do it deliberately? It was like drawing a neon sign above his head, saying "pay attention to me, damn it!"
    Without looking at them, Gabrielle knew that each of her three sisters were aware of Seth in a female come-hither way. They were sitting on the edge of their seats, their legs crossed and twined, aware of their bodies in a way they hadn't been in a long while. Seth had done that by walking into the room.
    But he was watching her, his eyes narrowed, measuring her reaction to the fact that he was here. Now. And standing next to her father.
    Gabrielle's heart hurt as it rammed against her chest. She didn't understand why he was here, or what her father was up to, but for the moment the overriding pleasure of seeing Seth again all but swamped her concern.
    Seth moved around the facing sofas, heading her way. Every feminine head tracked him. He dropped the glass on the sideboard and stepped in front of her.
    "Hello again," he said softly.
    "You came back," she gasped.
    His gaze slipped sideways, taking in their rabid audience, before settling back on her face. Her sisters were frankly listening. "I'll explain later," he said simply.
    She took a breath. And another. There would be a later.
    Seth lifted a finger. "I have something for you," he said. "Wait right there." He moved away, back into the front entrance. A few second later, he returned with a brown paper carry bag. It looked heavy and he carried it carefully and held it out to her. "Call it an early Christmas present. I didn't have time to wrap it, sorry."
    She took the bag, held open the handles and looked inside curiously.
    Her heart really did stop for second or two. She felt it. She sank down to the floor, the strength draining from her legs. She lowered the bag and reached inside. "My camera!" She pulled the camera