No Turning Back by Helenkay Dimon Read Free Book Online Page B

gave him the advantage.
    With determined strides and a plan to head her off before she disappeared into the thick woods, he circled around to his far right, cutting behind what the property plans described as a caretaker’s cottage. Looked more like a shed to him. One that might have been hit by lightning once or twice.
    The trees shook as the wind whipped through the open land, funneling past him and carrying a light mist with it. But the noise gave him cover. He was no more than ten feet away from her before she came to a dead stop and looked up. She glanced to her side and then into the woods.
    Then her whole body jolted as her eyes popped. Whatever she held fell to the ground as her hands came up as if to ward off any would-be attacker, and she screamed. And screamed again. Like, the-police-should-be-on-the-way-any-second screamed.
    He hadn’t planned on scaring her witless. Guilt sucker-punched him at her reaction, but he focused on the good news that his tracking skills hadn’t faded instead. “You seem to have a problem with trespassing.”
    She closed the gap between them and shoved both hands against his chest. “What’s wrong with you? You scared me half to death.”
    The push bounced off him but all the yelling hit its mark. Much more of that and he’d need earplugs.
    “Maybe you could lower your voice before the police arrive.” The negative side of him suspected the town’s finest would welcome any opportunity to hang a charge on him, even though Leah was the one breaking the law.
    “That’s your response?”
    After knowing the woman for even a short time he knew arguing was useless. He went with the obvious facts instead. “You’re on my property.”
    Her chest continued to rise and fall on rapid breaths. “I lived here.”
    The edge of anger in her tone had him dragging his gaze back to her face. “I’m not aware of any law that allows you to wander around on property you
used
to own.”
    “You a lawyer now?”
    “No, but I have one at the house.”
    “Your baby brother? Oh, please.” She gathered her hair when the ends continued to fly around. With a harsh tug, she twisted it into a makeshift ponytail and tucked the end into the collar of her sweater.
    “So, now you’ve moved on from my parents to insult my brothers?”
    Her shoulders fell on a heavy exhale, one loud enough to hover over the whistle of the wind. “No, I’m sorry. Look, I really didn’t come to fight. I didn’t expect to see you at all. This is just an innocent walk.”
    She managed to race through a lot of words but the first ones stuck with him. “Wait, did you just apologize?”
    “I hope you enjoyed it because I’m not saying it again.”
    Man, he loved sparring with her. He’d never have guessed that was some sort of sick turn-on for him, but if the revving in his gut every time he saw her was any clue . . . . “That’s a shame, since it almost sounded sincere.”
    Her smile never made it to her sad eyes. “How much will it take to make you leave?”
    “The backyard?”
    “Sweetwater.”
    Pricking her temper proved irresistible. Something about the way the fire rushed through her made him wonder what she’d be like if he could focus that passion in a different direction. “What are you offering?”
    “Money.” She tucked her fingers into her jeans.
    He wondered if the goal was to keep from slapping him. “That’s a shame.”
    “You’re disgusting.”
    “And you need to work on your game face if you’re going to enter into negotiations with someone you believe to be a con man.”
    She crouched down and grabbed something off the thick grass. “When I like someone I can be very charming. You are a different story.”
    He stared at the top of her head. She tested his patience while she fascinated him. Looking away was proving harder than he wanted to admit. “You don’t have any clue about what I am.”
    “A Hanover.” She balled up a piece of paper and shoved it in her pocket.
    A second ago