Green Fire by Stephanie James Read Free Book Online

pick up the bag. She wasn't really sure she wanted to know how he had received the wicked-looking old scar on his shoulder.
    "Is your head okay?" Flint demanded as he straightened with the bag cradled easily in one arm. Zipp, as usual, had raced out to meet Rani and was now making himself a nuisance around her feet.
    "It's fine, thank you. Just fine," she declared firmly. "Get out of my way, Zipp. Here, I can manage the bag, Flint."
    "That's all right. I'll take it into the kitchen for you. How was lunch?"
    "How did you know I had lunch? Have I got ketchup on my sweater or something?"
    Flint shook his head, leading the way toward the front door. "I just figured you were probably meeting that guy for lunch. The one who didn't show last night."
    "What amazing perception. As it happens, I'm meeting him for dinner tomorrow night, too." Rani shoved her key into the front door lock with undue energy. "Anything else you'd like to know about my schedule?"
    "What are you doing for dinner tonight?"
    "Dining alone," she informed him with a sugary smile. She knew what was coming and vowed silently not to let it happen. She had to put her foot down somewhere. The problem was that once you'd fed a stray cat it was damned tough to get rid of him. She should never have fed Flint Cottrell the night before.
    Flint looked at the black four-wheel drive Jeep he'd arrived in the previous evening and then back down into Rani's wary eyes. "I don't think I'm going to get a chance to drive into town this afternoon. There's a lot of work around here. I won't be able to pick up any supplies."
    "Really? How lucky for you that I took the liberty of picking up a few things for you."
    A startled expression flashed through his eyes. "You did?"
    "Uh-huh. Milk and cereal for your breakfast tomorrow morning and a frozen dinner you can pop into the oven this evening. I also picked up a six-pack of beer for you." At the time she'd selected the items in Reed Lake's small grocery store she'd been pleased with herself for keeping one step ahead of Flint. Now Rani found herself having to stifle a niggling sense of guilt.
    "A TV dinner?" he asked reproachfully as he followed her into the kitchen. "You bought me a TV dinner?"
    "Don't worry. From the sound of things you've been out of the country a lot during the past few years so you probably don't realize how they've changed. They're much better than they used to be. I got you fettuccine Alfredo."
    "I don't go in for fancy gourmet stuff," he stated, setting the bag down on the kitchen counter with an air of challenge.
    "Think of it as macaroni and cheese."
    He swung around, suddenly filling her kitchen with dark, lean, male aggression. It was an aggression made all the more intimidating by his obvious self-control. "I'd rather have whatever you're having."
    Rani swallowed and stood firm. "I'm afraid that's not possible. I'm eating alone tonight, Flint. Hadn't you better get back to work? I wouldn't want to keep you from your chores."
    She had the distinct impression it was touch and go for a moment. Flint looked as if he were having difficulty deciding how far to push her. Then, just when she was very much afraid he was going to carry the challenge further, he picked up the six-pack of beer, and turned and stalked to the door.
    Rani sank into a chair, relief overcoming her for a moment. The situation was getting outrageous. She was right to take a firm stand. She had to draw the line and make it stick because if she didn't Flint Cottrell would just keep pushing.
    She had no intention of letting a man with Flint's unstable background push his way into her world.
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Chapter Three

     
    Rani didn't know what woke her shortly before midnight. She had read until nearly eleven and had been asleep for less than an hour. There was no sense of danger, merely a feeling of something being different in the room. She lay still for a few minutes, analyzing the situation with sleepy care. Then she turned slowly on her side to peer