Love Me Like No Other by A. C. Arthur Read Free Book Online Page B

level. While he still wasn’t entertaining thoughts of marriage, he had begun to think that his discontent centered around his lackluster personal life.
    His mother would love to hear that and Linc had no doubt she would have more than enough women at the house this week to perk up that personal life of his. She had a surprise coming.
     
    The first half hour of their ride passed in virtual silence after a brief breakfast of fruit and coffee. Jade’s stomach growled and she coughed to muffle the sound. Linc had offered to order a full meal but she’d been stubborn, and anxious to get this show on the road. She’d barely slept last night and was having second thoughts about this deal with him. Maybe she would have been better off applying for a personal loan herself to pay Noelle’s debt. But she had enough overhead right now. Another bill wasn’t the answer.
    With a sigh she decided she’d have to find some way to deal with this attraction to Linc and the business deal they’d struck. He fully expected her to sleep with him. She had no intention of getting her feelings tangled up in him again. Linc had broken her heart once and she wasn’t about to give him the opportunity to do it again.
    Last night she’d wondered how she consideredthe one-night stand with Linc a lost relationship while her six-month engagement to Charles was written off as a fatal mistake. She’d liked Charles well enough—Grammy had liked him more—but she had to admit to feeling a small sense of relief when she opened his e-mail that fateful morning. There was no love lost where Charles was concerned. Anger was more likely the emotion of choice when she thought of him. Her fists clenched at the memory. If she ever saw Charles again she’d…
    Linc reached over, touched her hands, slowly pulling her fingers out as he stared at her. “What are you thinking about over there?”
    “Huh? Oh, nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything,” she said, embarrassed that he’d obviously been watching her.
    “It must have been something. You were about to draw your own blood.”
    She shrugged. “Just something that’s better left in the past.”
    “Did somebody hurt you?”
    Jade stared at him blankly then quickly turned away. “No. Nobody hurt me.”
    “They made you angry?”
    She opened her mouth to speak then clamped it shut again. Why did he care either way? “Let’s just say my life’s been full of lessons learned.”
    He folded her hand in his and Jade felt the familiar heat stirring inside.
    “I’d be interested in hearing about those lessons.” He smiled and then held up a hand to stop her when she would have spoken. “But for now I’ll settle for hearing about what you’ve been doing for the past eight years.”
    Making one mistake after another, pining for you, losing a fortune… Where should she start? Jade shifted in the seat. What was it about him that made her want to scream one minute and melt into his arms the next? At any rate, telling him about her past mistakes was definitely out of the question. Switching the subject would be better. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you give me the rundown on your family? Since I’ll be spending a week with them I should probably know some basics.”
    Linc gave her a half smile. She hadn’t admitted it but he was sure there was someone in her past who she was still pretty angry with and he was willing to bet the person was a man. He looked into warm hazel eyes and wanted instinctively to protect her from all hurt and harm. She had secrets, ones that caused her great pain. He wondered how long it would take her to tell him, then decided it didn’t really matter. At least he didn’t want it to.
    “I am the oldest of three boys. I have two brothers—Trent and Adam. Trent’s an ex-Navy Seal and Adam’s into real estate. My parents, Henry and Beverly, have been married for forty years and will invite every living member of the Donovan family to the house this week to help