Healing Trace by Debra Kayn Read Free Book Online

the
cheek.
    "Thank you," she
whispered
    Trace hooked his hand around her
neck and brought her back to him. He stared down into her eyes, questioning,
asking. She licked her lips, hypnotized by the desire darkening his eyes.
    He captured her mouth in a gentle
kiss. His lips were warm on hers, moving with great care and attention. She
wanted to savor the way her body reacted.
    She encircled his waist and held on
as the kiss deepened. She felt wanted and needed all at the same time.
Forgetting the real reason she was here at Lakota ranch, she let herself go.
    When he ended the kiss and pulled
back, she whined, not wanting the closeness to end. Then she realized what
she'd done.
    "Oh, my God, I'm sorry."
She moved away from him.
    He only stared at her.
    Brody and Devon's voice reached
them from further away in the house. Joan ducked her chin. Warmth crept up her
neck.
    She didn't have time to react,
because the others entered the room.
    "What the hell happened to
your hair?" Devon stopped, glancing back and forth between Trace and Joan.
"Is it National Wear a Braid Day?"
    "Joan wanted to learn how to
braid hair. I showed her." Trace sat down on the couch and folded his arms
across his chest.
    "Oh, um…yeah, I see that. I
think." Devon tilted his head to the side. "No, I really don't.
Braiding?"
    Brody smacked Devon on the arm.
"Let's get out of here."
    "Why? I thought we were coming
inside to cool off for a while." Devon started to walk toward the chair,
but Brody grabbed his shirt. "Hey. What are you doing?"
    "Kitchen. Now." Brody
pulled Devon away, grumbling.
    Joan moved to the couch, putting
distance between her and Trace. "I didn't mean…it won't happen
again."
    Trace's gaze narrowed. She moved
back. How could she have let herself lose control?
    "I'll just go into the kitchen
and make you a snack." She escaped and hid in the dining room, waiting
until she heard Brody and Devon leave the house.
    Sinking down into one of the chairs
by the table, she held her head in her hands. The kiss didn't mean anything. He
mistook her thanks for something more. It was a common mistake. Oh, God. I
wanted him to kiss me.

Chapter
Six
    The next morning after they kissed,
Trace was in a grouchier mood than ever, and had Joan running all over the
ranch delivering messages to the other guys at the stable, getting him coffee,
bringing him files, and generally made her stay away from him by sending her on
insignificant errands. She pulled her shoulders back and climbed the porch
steps. She wasn't going to let his attitude ruin her day.
    With such a busy morning, she had
no time to talk to him about what happened yesterday, or to right the situation
so they could go on being patient and caregiver. She yawned as she opened the
front door. The unspoken truth had sat between Trace and her at dinnertime, and
had kept her awake until after three this morning.
    If he decided to fire her, she'd be
even worse off than she was now.
    Car-less, sister-less, and soon
apartment-less, unless the stars aligned and she could find a place to hire her
soon. Going back to delivering meals fifteen hours a week, even if she did
manage to buy a cheap car, wouldn't keep her from losing the apartment, she
sagged against the door. When would life settle down?
    Entering the living room, her cell
phone rang. She fished it out of her back pocket and answered the call.
    "Hello?"
    It was Ed Thomas from Thomas
Insurance Agency. Her sigh of relief soon turned into disbelief.
    "What do you mean? Of course I
had a current insurance policy on the car?" She thrust her fingers in her
hair.
    After learning she'd missed last
month's payment, and her insurance expired, she thanked him for calling and
hung up. There was nothing else she could do. No amount of crying or arguing
was going to change the facts. She'd screwed up. Again.
    Without the money coming from the
insurance company, she'd have no other way to purchase a car but to use what
she earned working for Trace. That'd leave no