My Heart's Desire by Jo Goodman Read Free Book Online Page A

and she paused on the threshold until her eyes adjusted. When she could finally see she wondered if that was necessarily a good thing.
    Yes, he was decently covered. But only just. Rennie became impatient with herself as she felt her cheeks grow hot. She considered herself rather a worldly woman, yet here she was in her own home sporting a face like a brush fire. All because of Jarret Sullivan. It was not a situation that endeared the man to Rennie. Setting her shoulders stiffly and cocking her head to the side, she stared defiantly at her unwanted guest.
    His form was not unpleasing, she thought. With a hint of the objectiveness in which she prided herself, Rennie admitted that quite the opposite was true. His hair was still damp, darker at the edges where it framed his face, and streaked with sunshine at the crown of his head. In repose his features did not look so sharply cut; the hardness that lay just beyond his amused, lazy smile was absent. But then, Rennie realized with some regret, so was the smile.
    Her eyes rested briefly on his mouth, then followed the strong line of his jaw to where a droplet of water lay in the hollow of his throat. His chest rose and fell in an even cadence. She made out the curve of his rib cage and the slope of his hard belly. An arrow of dark hair disappeared beneath the ridge of his loosely tied towel, and lower, the material split intriguingly along his right thigh. As Rennie stared, the split opened farther. She blinked widely, hardly believing the towel was slowly rising.
    Jarret snapped to attention, sitting straight up and drawing his knees to his chest. He hid the heavy fullness of his groin, but the ache remained. His brows arched in question a moment before he found his voice. "You've seen enough?"
    Rennie held her ground and answered boldly, "More than I cared to, actually."
    "Really?" The smile was back, this time edged with derision. "You were staring pretty hard for someone who had taken her fill." Jarret felt a measure of satisfaction as Rennie's face flamed and her icy shield of arrogance began to melt.
    "You're a vile, boorish man, Mr. Sullivan."
    "That so?" He was genuinely amused now. "Most people just call me a son of a bitch."
    She hated the fact that he was laughing at her. She hated the fact that in spite of his near nakedness, he had somehow gotten the upper hand. She wished she had called him a son of a bitch, for surely that's what he was.
    "There was something you wanted?" he asked. "Or am I to assume you moseyed on in here simply to look at me?"
    Rennie's chin came up a notch, and the butter-wouldn't-melt expression returned. "You may as well learn now, Mr. Sullivan, that I've never moseyed anywhere in my life. I don't amble, sashay, saunter, or stroll."
    "Damn the torpedoes. Is that it, Miss Dennehy? Full speed ahead?"
    Rennie's mouth pursed impatiently. "I walk. Sometimes I run. Always with a destination in mind. Not only do I know where I'm going, I know why I'm going there. I've never been inclined to mosey, and it's not a trait that I particularly respect in others."
    "You may get where you're goin', but you're missin' the trip."
    "Please spare me the good ol' boy homilies. I've been managing just fine on my—"
    Jarret held up his hand. "Whoa! You may not walk in circles, but you sure do talk in them. You're making my head ache."
    She smiled sweetly as he began to massage his temples. "If my presence here is as welcome to you as a hangover from a three-day drunk, then, Mr. Sullivan, I feel I've accomplished my life's work." For a moment she thought she had gone too far. He stared at her, his features void of any discernible expression; then without warning deep, rumbling laughter shook his shoulders and made his striking eyes crinkle at the corners.
    "Your life's work, eh?" He shook his head, still chuckling, and turned on the bed so that his legs dangled over the side. "I'm getting up now, Miss Dennehy, and I'm going to get dressed. I feel a warning's in