It Had to Be Love (An It Had to Be Novel) by Tamra Baumann Read Free Book Online Page A

feed my puppy. But thanks.”
    He walked beside her toward the door. Beating her to the screen, he pushed it open. “Thank you for the dinner. And the pie.” He slipped his hands into the pockets of his sweats and asked, “Sure you don’t want to stay?”
    Did he really want her to stay? No, he was just being polite. Or looking for another opportunity to snoop. “Thanks, but no. I hope you feel better soon, Mr. Nosy.”
    As she started down the steps he said softly, “Hope your hand feels better too, Bruce Lee.”
    She chuckled as she headed up the hill to her house. She could feel him watching her. Just before she turned the corner she glanced over her shoulder.
    He sent her another smile she felt in her gut, then lifted a hand.
    She returned the gesture and then stared down at her bruised palm.
    Could she be with a man like Ryan and still keep her secret? Being tall herself, men with Ryan’s build had always been her type—before.
    What was she thinking? She’d just broken his nose. She’d be the last person Ryan would ever want to be with. Besides, any man who turned down easy one-night stands and took the time to make his house that beautiful was probably the type who wanted a wife and kids to fill it. Something she could never be again or give him.
    She should just stick to spending her free time with Sherlock and forget how nice Ryan’s touch had felt.
    As she unlocked her door and typed in the code to her security system, her cell rang. She dug it out of her purse and checked the screen. She didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
    Soft breathing sounded in her ear, so she said, “Hello?” again.
    Then the line went dead.
    Her heart lurched. It couldn’t be happening again. But Spencer was a genius computer hacker. If he’d gotten access to . . .
    No. Just a wrong number. That’s all. And all her bills had her parents’ house address just in case. But there were always cell phone GPS locations.
    She was being paranoid, that’s all.
    But getting a new number in the morning, just to be safe, couldn’t hurt.

R yan waited fifteen minutes by the boat ramp for Tara to show up for her morning run before he gave up. She must’ve decided to skip it.
    He set up his favorite playlist on the phone strapped to his arm and took off down the paved path. He hadn’t lasted a full song before the pain in his face became too much, forcing him to stop. Each pounding step sent a jarring punch to his nose that wasn’t worth it. The knockout pills from the day before were out of the question, so he’d only taken some aspirin earlier. Maybe he’d be able to take a longer run tomorrow to make up for it.
    Walking toward home to grab some breakfast before work, he remembered he was out of oatmeal, so he changed direction and headed for the store.
    Once inside, he slipped around the hardware section to the food aisles and spotted a familiar blonde head of hair. Tara stood in the rear at the phone kiosk chatting with Fred, the short, chubby owner who always played Santa at the town Christmas party. Besides having the right physique, Fred sported a long white beard that bobbed as he spoke to Tara while pointing to a cell phone in her hand. When Fred glanced Ryan’s way, the owner lifted his chin in greeting, so Ryan walked toward the rear of the store. A few yards away from them, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, “Sheriff Anderson asking permission to approach Dr. Carter.”
    Tara swiveled her head over her shoulder and sent him an eye roll. “Very funny, Ryan. Permission denied.”
    He stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn’t counted on her saying that.
    She spun around and smiled. “I was just kidding.”
    “Oh.” He joined them as Fred handed Tara—all dressed up and looking nice for work—an instruction manual.
    Fred chuckled. “Can’t blame you for that after yesterday, Ryan. The lady packs a mean punch, eh?” Then he said to Tara, “I got you all fixed up with your new number, and I