Foxfire Light by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page B

continued into the living room, lesscertainly than before. Alarm bells went off in her head when she recognized the tall, broad shouldered man crossing the threshold. Instead of the faded Levis and workshirt, he was wearing a white shirt with pearl snaps and slim-fitting, western cut slacks of tan drill.
    It wasn’t his casual attire that held her attention, but the rugged planes of his tanned features—sun-hardened and strong. The brim of his cowboy hat shadowed his eyes but Joanna had no difficulty remembering the hard amber flecks in the light brown irises that glittered their message of caution.
    She watched the straight, firm Line of his mouth curve in a smile that gentled the hard contours of his face as he shook hands with her uncle. It was an expression that didn’t last long, fading when his glance traveled beyond her uncle to notice her.
    â€œJoanna, come meet Linc Wilder.” Her uncle seemed oblivious to the subtle undercurrents impregnating the air as he invited her to come forward.
    With a stiffness to her carriage, she started across the room. All her nerve ends were tingling under the study of those eyes. She knew her appearance was a definite improvement on the way she had looked the first time he’d seen her. The smooth style of her ash-blonde hair flattered her features, features that were enhanced by the light application of makeup—a hint of mascara to darken her lashes, a touch of green shadow to bring out the warm brown ofher eyes, and a lingering trace of brown-rose gloss to define the curve of her lips.
    There was no artificial cause for the color in her cheeks as his re-assessing gaze traveled the length of her body, taking note of the slim-fitting designer jeans that hugged her hips, and of the clinging fabric of her red knit top that outlined the swell of her young breasts.
    There was a definite shimmer of defiance in her eyes when she met his glance. All her defenses were raised against him. Joanna didn’t fully understand this inner need to protect herself from him. It seemed purely instinctive, a reaction beyond her control. When she stopped beside her uncle, she was rigid with tension.
    â€œLinc, I want you to meet my niece, Joanna Morgan,” her uncle finished the introduction.
    The strong mouth slanted its Line but it never made the full transition into a smile. His glance locked with hers, his heavy with irony.
    â€œYour niece and I have already met, although we didn’t bother to introduce ourselves at the time.” He held out his hand to her, the gesture in the way of a challenge.
    Joanna longed to ignore it but it would have meant a gross display of bad manners to a guest of her uncle’s. She forced herself to shake his hand. His grip seemed to swallow her, the contact sending tingles up her arm.
    â€œYou have met?” Her uncle reacted to Linc Wilder’s statement, the frowning arch of a dark brow directing a silent query to Joanna for confirmation.
    â€œYes, we have,” she admitted and withdrew her hand from his grasp the instant he relaxed it. She faked an air of innocent oversight when she met her uncle’s puzzled glance. “Didn’t I mention that there was another man present yesterday when my car landed in the ditch?”
    â€œNo, I don’t recall that you did,” Reece frowned in an effort to remember what she had said.
    â€œI must have forgotten.” She made light of the omission with a dismissing shrug.
    Reece accepted her explanation that it had been an oversight and moved away from the door, inviting them to follow by his action. “Joanna told me about the incident on the road yesterday,” he admitted to Linc.
    â€œDid she?” The mocking lilt of his voice dryly intimated that Joanna had colored the story so she wouldn’t be seen in a bad light.
    Her retort was quick. “Yes, I did. Reece knows me very well—and my embarrassing habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong