Gift of Gold by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page B

smile was beatific. "Good night, Verity. Nice to meet you, Jonas. I'm glad Verity was able to solve her staffing problems so quickly. Good help is so hard to get."

    Chapter Three

    JONAS got out of bed Monday morning with a feeling of pleasant expectation. The No Bull was closed for the day and he intended to use the free time to finish settling into his new home. It looked like he was going to be around for a while, he thought, as he padded barefoot across the cold wooden floor to the small, chilled bathroom. The notion gave him an unfamiliar sense of satisfaction.

    He glanced at the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined every wall of the small cabin and wondered
                where he would put his few personal items. Someone, presumably Emerson Ames, had already turned the place into a long-term storage facility for a private library.

    Well, Jonas reminded himself as he considered the limited room available, he didn't need much space. He'd been traveling light for years. A man on the run didn't let himself get weighed down with too many belongings.

    He studied himself critically in the cracked bathroom mirror while he ran water into the sink. There was no getting around the fact that he did not appear too prepossessing in the mornings. The dark stubble of his beard gave his lean face a shadowed, menacing look. Jonas wondered if Verity would mind.

    Ah, well, she would get used to it. After all, he had.

    He worked up a lather and applied it to the stubble while he contemplated the mental image of Verity in the mornings. Jonas decided she would look pleasantly tousled and flushed with sleep, all her normal barriers lowered.

    Those barriers had begun to crumble quite nicely last night in the spa pool. Jonas felt another wave of satisfaction go through him as he picked up his razor. Given a little more time, he would have had that prim swimsuit off of her. Verity hadn't been fighting him. In fact, she had seemed as caught up in the moment as he had.

    It was too bad about Laura Griswald's interruption, but Jonas was philosophical. He had plenty of time. He'd been in a rush to locate Verity, but now that he'd found her, he could afford to take things easy. He hadn't even tried to pick up where he'd left off in the pool last night after he'd walked Verity back to her cabin. He had enough sense to know when to push and when not to.

    He felt he had all the time in the world. It was a pleasant feeling. The idea of getting to know Verity slowly and intimately filled him with a throbbing excitement. The only major problem Jonas could see was the very practical one of how long he could restrain himself physically. After last night, it was going to be hard to let things take a slow, leisurely course toward bed. But he was determined to try. The last thing he wanted to do was rush her.

    Verity deserves a proper courtship.

    Jonas frowned into the mirror, wondering where that thought had come from. Was that what he was doing? Courting Verity? No, not quite. He wanted to learn her secrets, but that wasn't the same as wanting to marry the woman, for Christ's sake.

    Jonas finished shaving and took his shower. By the time he was dressed and had water on the stove for instant coffee, the cabin was finally beginning to get warm. He made a mental note to see what he could do about the lousy heating system. He was supposed to be a handyperson, after all.

    And if he didn't get the system fixed, it was going to be one long, chilly winter here by the lake.

    Of course, the winter would be far more comfortable if he moved in with his boss, Jonas told himself. He fingered the earring in his pocket as he stood by the stove waiting for the water to boil. From the kitchen window he could see the light in Verity's bedroom window. She was up early, as usual.

    A slow smile of satisfaction and anticipation edged his mouth. The gold circlet in his pocket felt warm to the touch, and the faint pulse of the earring's vibrations was full of