Magnolia Blossoms by Rhonda Dennis Read Free Book Online Page B

and Jace is standing before me.
    “What did that poor pig ever do to you?” he jokes. I don’t answer because I’m still out of breath from my rage fest. He surveys the damage; his gaze fixes on the overturned tractor. “Want to talk about it?”
    I shake my head.
    “Are you hurt?” he asks.
    I shrug.
    “Can I help you?”
    “I don’t think anyone can help me,” I say, holding back the sob that wants to come. It plants itself firmly in my throat as a gigantic lump.
    “Mags, I don’t really know you, but I can tell you this, if you want help, you have to be unafraid to ask for it. Would you like my help?”
    “Jace, why are you here?”
    “My partner is new, and he forgot a piece of equipment at one of our calls. I’ve been retracing our route, hoping to find it. You haven’t seen an oxygen cylinder around here, have you?”
    “I don’t recall seeing one,” I answer truthfully.
    “Damn. Okay,” he says with a sigh. “Thanks.”
    “Jace.”
    He’s rubbing the back of his neck with his palm. “Yeah?” he asks, preoccupied.
    “Do you really think you can help me fix this mess?” I ask.
    “What? Oh, yeah. Of course. No problem.” He pulls out his cell phone and places a call to a friend of his who owns a wrecker truck. “Lee will be here in about an hour or so. He’s on a call, but he promises to head this way as soon as he finishes up.”
    “Thanks,” I say, starting to feel a little more optimistic.
    “No problem. Want to tell me what the pig leg is doing over here?” he asks.
    “It stinks, so I was trying to toss it into the water.”
    “With the tractor?”
    “No, at first, I used my scooter, but that didn’t go so well.” I lift my turtleneck to show my midriff, and Jace sucks in a breath.
    “What is that from? Is that a rope burn?”
    I nod, and he tries his best not to laugh. Slowly lowering my shirt, I turn to walk away from him. He touches my shoulder.
    “Maggie, you had to know that wouldn’t end well, right?”
    I hold my hand out towards the sunken tractor. “I have a history of not thinking things through before acting upon my ideas.”
    “I can see that. Okay, hand me those gloves from over there, please.” He puts on the black dot gloves, claps his hands together a couple of times, and then shrugs his shoulders to limber up. Squatting low, he lifts the remains and easily tosses them into the water. How it’s possible to be turned on by watching a man lift rotting pig, I have no clue, but I’m hot with desire. He misreads my flushed skin, rapid breathing, and closed eyes as something entirely different. “Let me wash up, and I’ll assess that wound better. Is it causing you much pain?”
    It really isn’t, but a living, breathing human being without colonies of acne and visible skidmarks is willing to help me! I’m all over it!
    “Upstairs?” he asks, pointing towards my apartment. There is no way in hell that I’m letting him into my porn cave.
    “No. The house, please,” I say, opening the side door for him to walk through. We pass Sunny’s art studio, and continue down the hallway until the house opens to a large kitchen/living room combo. Standing behind Jace, I take full advantage of his preoccupation with soaping up to give him a thorough scan. His short, dark blond hair looks freshly shorn. In fact, all of the other times I’d seen him, he looked that way. He must be at the barber once a week. His tanned neck disappears beneath the collar of his dark button up shirt, and my gaze travels to his thick, broad shoulders. I want to run my hands over them so badly… to massage them, kiss them, playfully sink my teeth into them.
    “You okay?” Jace asks, snapping me back to reality.
    “Uh, yeah. Fine,” I say, trying to hide my embarrassment.
    “Where can I throw this?” he asks, holding wadded up used paper towels.
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Over there,” I say, pointing to the cabinet door to his right. He tosses it, and with a slight chuckle, he asks to