In Plain Sight by Marie Harte Read Free Book Online Page B

mind. I feel like I can fill the silence or not, but that you’ll listen. Or am I just being stupid? I’ll shut up now.”
    “You’re not stupid, Sarah,” he said quietly, falling even deeper under her spell. Her openness was just one of the things he loved about her.
    “I have a bad habit of saying too much. I probably shouldn’t have told everyone about raptor business in the diner the other day, but I’m sick of Mike’s comments.”
    “Don’t be sorry.” Cullen grabbed the skillet off the stove and slid the omelet onto a plate for Sarah.
    He knew it wasn’t his business, but he wanted to know. “Why the hell would you fall for Will Shaw in the first place?” You could have any guy you wanted. Why him?
    She shrugged. “I was young and lonely. It felt like all the guys wanted me for one thing and one thing only. I wanted to fit in with the raptors as more than just Mimi’s orphaned girl. Will didn’t seem like the others. He talked to me and made me feel special. I had never been with a guy before him.”
    “And after?” Shut up, Cullen. She’s talking, don’t scare her with questions that aren’t your business…yet.
    “Cullen, I learn from my mistakes.” She blushed. “I’m not, I don’t… Just because last night happened doesn’t mean—”
    Cullen stared, incredulous. “ Hell. He was the only one, wasn’t he?”
    “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Her cheeks turned a bright red.
    “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Stunned and elated, he tried to hold onto his composure. He sat next to her, trying to figure her out. A woman this pretty, this smart, and she’d never been with anyone but one man?
    “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
    32

    “You are so beautiful,” he blurted, still shocked at her revelation.
    “Huh?” Sarah stared back at him. “You think I’m beautiful?”
    Realizing he sounded moronic, he nodded and stood. “I have work to do. See you later.” He left before he did something brainless and admitted he’d fallen in love with her. That would scare her away for sure. A crude loner like Cullen Whitefeather in love with an angel like Sarah? Talk about a praying for a miracle. They were mates, maybe, but not by her design.
    Grumbling under his breath about asshole cats and ragged raptors, Cullen returned to what he was good at. Silence and trade. Still agitated, he decided to unwind by working on the finishing touches for the crib. Refining the wooden carvings, he immersed himself in work, trying hard not to imagine his own child in a similar crib, staring up at him with Sarah’s eyes.
    Sarah stared out the back door at a retreating Cullen, bewildered and ecstatic all at once. Cullen thought she was beautiful. She felt warm all over, awash in his praise. The man normally couldn’t string two words together without sounding stilted, but when he looked at her the way he had, she wanted to melt at his feet.
    She ate every bite of the omelet he’d given her and marveled at his skill. When it came to using his hands, Cullen Whitefeather was a wizard. Woodworking, cooking, lovemaking… She flushed, recalling how talented he’d been last night.
    Her brief time with Will had been all about Will getting his pleasure. He’d touched her and kissed her, but nothing along the intensity of what Cullen had done.
    Sarah was no prude. She’d waited a long time to have sex, but she’d done it because she’d thought herself in love. Though she no longer equated lust with love, she still needed to experience the physical act of sex with a tandem emotional connection. Unfortunately, she hadn’t met anyone worthy of that lovemaking. Until now.
    Frankly, she blamed the raptor inside her. The birds mated for life. Unlike Will and Dennis, when Sarah took a mate, she intended to remain faithful to him. Having sex didn’t necessitate a trip down the aisle, she knew, but taking a lover would never be a casual thing for her.
    Which made her attraction to