From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone by Lorhainne Eckhart Read Free Book Online Page A

creaked; she swung around so fast she whacked her elbow on the doorjamb. “Oh.”
    “Sorry . I didn’t mean to scare you. Did you hurt yourself?”
    “No, I’m fine.” Her face must have been crimson, standing in the doorway to her bedroom. Why was this bothering her? And why wouldn’t he look away with those intense, dark eyes? Seconds passed before Brad cleared his throat.
    “Getting settled in okay?” He shoved his hands in his front pockets, a man who guarded his emotions with a control hard and mechanical. But the flicker of concern shading his eyes was genuine. Emily liked to think she could pick up any sense of falseness from a person. But she couldn’t read this guy. He was too complex.
    “I think so.” Emily cleared her throat.
    His face brightened when he looked over her head. She turned to see what he found so intriguing. “It’s been a hectic day for us all I think; hopefully she’ll sleep a while.” His smile faded. He was standing really close. Her heart thudded. Could he hear it?
    Emily needed to move but he blocked the way. Swallowing the lump, she tucked the wisps of hair that had, once again, escaped the ponytail behind her ears. She dropped her eyes to the floor, a motion that helped her steady her nerves. Change the subject. “I should start dinner, it’s getting late.”
    He brushed his hand on her shoulder. Heat flickered. He pulled back as if he’d been burned. Then his jaw hardened as he stepped back, shoving his hands in his pockets again. “Mrs. Haske started something in the crock pot, when she was here this morning to get Trevor, so no need. You finish getting settled.”
    Her tongue felt thick and she didn’t trust herself to speak. She nodded.
    “I need to go get Trevor.” He hesitated as if needing to say more, but didn’t. He hurried down the stairs.
    “Brad, I almost forgot... sorry, do you have a minute?” She cringed at her inability to put together two intelligent words. Did I stammer?
    He stopped halfway down and turned back. “Yes, Emily.” How did he do that? Even the sound of her name sounded like music to her ears. When she didn’t respond, he raised his eyebrow to hurry her along. Okay speak girl. “Um, I kind of assumed some things; sorry, what I’m trying to say is I just need to clarify some things.”
    He braced his hand against the wall. He appeared to tense as he stood straighter. She was really mucking this up.
    “You’re here to look after my boy and cook.” Whoa, she’d need a pair of tweezers to remove the stinger from his sharp clipped tone.
    “Oh, I know that. But I wanted to talk about getting groceries and the laundry. I’ll do Trevor’s. And did you want me to do your laundry too? I mean we really didn’t talk about all those details. I just want to know for sure…” Emily let her words drop off at the odd expression on his face. He dropped his hand and glanced away. He chuckled as he walked back up the steps. Emily didn’t know what to do so she backed up until she bumped the wall.
    “Lady, you surprise me. And very few do. No, I can do my own laundry, but thank you. You look after the kids and the cooking and I’ll give you money to get groceries, and if you don’t mind doing Trevor’s laundry, I’d really appreciate it. Fair enough?”
    “That’s more than fair, Brad. Thank you.”
    “Mrs. Haske will come a couple times a week to do the cleaning. If you need help with something, you just need to ask. Sorry I snapped. Okay?”
    “Okay.” She smiled at the encouragement.
    “I’ve got to go.” He talked as he hurried down the stairs.
    Even though the house was warm, Emily crossed her arms and trembled as she stood alone in the silence, listening to his familiar walk, the click of the door and the sound of his truck.

Chapter Eight
    Right after breakfast, Emily hustled out the door with Katy, Trevor and a mile long grocery list. Brad, being true to his word, provided her with plenty of cash. She’d made good time