Lost in His Arms by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online

for a rental car, and he should be here any moment with our meals.”
    Elizabeth shook her head in amazement. “You certainly know how to get things done.”
    He smiled a lazy half smile that once again made her tummy buck and jump. “Get me out of the woods and I’m fine. In civilization, money always gets things done.”
    A knock sounded on the door, and he opened it to a young man who held a paper bag and twin plastic-foam boxes that emitted wonderful smells.
    Hunger. That was what made her stomach feel so funny, she thought. It had nothing to do with Talbot’s sex appeal.
    Talbot thanked the man, then set the items on the table. He opened the bag first and handed her a chocolate shake and removed a soda for himself. When he opened one box and she saw the thick cheeseburger and French fries, she wanted to cry. Not because she was starving, but because he’d remembered what she’d said she wanted when they’d been lost.
    She wondered how badly she’d misjudged Talbot in the past. She had always believed him to be a cold, unfeeling man who had exacerbated Richard’sproblems by picking him up again and again and never letting him fall to the ground. Had she been wrong about him?
    â€œThank you.” She smiled. “How is your leg feeling?”
    â€œBetter. The hot shower worked out some of the soreness. I’m sure it’ll be fine. How’s your head.”
    â€œIt’s fine,” she said as she touched the side of her head. “I called home. Richard and Andrew are there and seem to be okay.” She popped a fry into her mouth.
    â€œI told you they would be.”
    â€œAndrew was bubbling about all the things Richard had shown him in Twin Oaks. Something about a swimming hole?”
    A smile flashed across his face. “It was actually a pond. Walter North’s pond.” He paused to take a bite of his burger and chewed, his smile lingering. “It was the biggest pond in the area, and on most hot days half the kids in town would find their way there, much to Walter’s consternation.”
    â€œHe didn’t like you swimming in his pond?”
    â€œAnytime he’d catch us, he’d chase us with his shotgun. But it was a game for all of us.”
    â€œA game?” She tried not to notice how achingly handsome he looked with a smile curving his lips.
    â€œHe never chased us off in the middle of a hot afternoon. It was always around dusk when he’dcome out of his house, acting like he’d just seen us.”
    Talbot took a drink of his soda, then laughed. “God, what fun it was. Walter was as skinny as his shotgun. He’d cuss and wave his gun and we’d all scream and yell and scramble out of the water.”
    Elizabeth leaned forward, as if by closer proximity she could feel some of the warmth of his happy memories. She had never considered Talbot a warm, personable man before, but the smile on his lips and the humor that lit his dark gray eyes caused heat to spiral through her.
    â€œI think it was as much a game for Walter as it was for us. He’d never chase us very fast, and I’d lay odds the gun wasn’t loaded. Richard was younger than the rest of us and couldn’t run as fast, so he’d throw himself at me and I’d run with him hanging on to my back and screaming into my ear.”
    His smile fell away and was replaced by a deep frown. “That’s enough inane chatter. We’d better eat up and get on the road.”
    They ate in silence and within an hour they were in an economy rental heading back to Kansas City.
    Elizabeth tried to focus on the scenery flashing by them, but her thoughts, her entire awareness, were fixed solely on Talbot and the time they had spent together.
    She wished, in those two days, she’d discoveredhim to be every bit as cold, as dictatorial, as arrogant as she’d once believed him to be.
    Shooting him a surreptitious glance, she sensed