Hot Property by Lacey Diamond Read Free Book Online

him hesitate, his eyes
fixed on hers as if he was holding on in hope she’d change her
mind. When she remained silent he turned toward the door.
    “Skylar!”
    He slowly tilted his head in her
direction.
    “Good luck.”
    His lips twisted into a little smile before
she watched him climb behind the wheel and drive away.
    Betsy swallowed the lump in her throat, then
gunned the throttle and headed in the opposite direction. She was
determined to enjoy the sights and smell of the countryside. The
thick forest of trees on both sides of the road made her smile. But
the beauty of the lavender and white wild flowers near the edge of
the road is what occupied her thoughts until she made the turn onto
the main street.
    Up until now the scenery allowed her to
postpone feeling the emptiness tugging at her insides. She couldn’t
allow this to continue. She’d been perfectly content with her life
before Skylar. And she would be again. She had to be.
    She arrived home and went into her roomy
downstairs apartment, managed to shower, pull on her white terry
cloth one piece short outfit without allowing a glimpse of Skylar
and her feelings for him into her thoughts. The way her toe began
to thump helped keep her mind off him. She placed her foot on the
side of the bathtub to give the toe a closer look. It was an ugly
sight, swollen and already black and blue. Feeling along the bone
she came to the conclusion it wasn’t broken.
    When Betsy thought about how she’d gotten
the injury, she quickly put her foot down on the cool tile.
    “You got off easy,” Miss Sensible insisted.
If she hadn’t stood gaping at Skylar the picnic basket wouldn’t
have smashed her toe in the first place.
    “Letting down your guard around a man only
brings pain,” Miss Sensible reminded.
    Betsy agreed. She’d be more careful in the
future.
    She ran the comb through her short wet waves
and went into the living room.
    Plopping on the center worn couch cushion
she picked up the copy of Skylar’s house plans from the coffee
table where she’d dropped them when she came in from work. As she
leaned back in her seat, unrolling the heavy paper, she propped her
feet on the table.
    First glance at the plans and she found
fault. The more she studied the interior design, the more
frustrated she became. “The man’s building a castle,” she blurted
and dropped the house plans on her lap.
    Castles were ancient and reminded her of all
the old houses she’d lived in.
    Her gaze wandered around the large room
where she sat. The high plastered ceiling was cracked at various
spots. The white walls looked as bad. She’d filled the room with
shelves of books and potted plants trying to give it a cozy
appearance. But in the winter months when she dared walk around on
the wood floors in bare feet, she felt cold.
    She gripped the paper again and took another
look. This was not the one story new house with thick plush carpet
throughout she’d pictured on that hill.
    Skylar Blakewood would hear about her
dislike for his proposed first house. As his Realtor it was her job
to tell him what her buyers wanted. It would be too late once
construction began. She made up her mind she’d call his office
first thing in the morning when the doorbell rang.
    She dropped the plans on the coffee table.
It was after nine o’clock. She made it a habit to hit the sack by
ten during the work week. Friends and acquaintances knew that. So
who’d be calling at this hour?
    Curious to see who wanted to impose on her
privacy at this time of night, she swung open the solid wood
door.
    “I was hoping you’d still be up,” Skylar
said as he opened the screen door and walked in, uninvited.
    Betsy grasped the top of the terry cloth
material barely covering her chest, suddenly feeling half naked and
a little embarrassed. “I was about to turn in.” She stumbled into
the living room where Skylar was already making himself right at
home on the couch after setting the picnic basket on the