Outfoxed by Marie Harte Read Free Book Online Page A

man she expected to find on the couch, she saw her pillows neatly stacked and a blanket folded over the arm of the sofa. On the kitchen table, the vase she kept under the sink was filled with wildflowers that made the room smell fresh and sweet. By the vase lay a piece of paper covered with Grady’s masculine scrawl.
    Dear Gabby.
    I wanted to talk to you in person, but I have the early shift at work today and didn’t want to wake you. I can’t thank you enough for last night. You’re such a generous, caring, beautiful woman. I’m sorry you had to be involved with my mess with Dean. But please don’t regret what happened last night. I don’t. I would have made you something to eat for breakfast, but I can’t cook. I hunt. And I didn’t think a deer carcass on your counter would go with the neat theme you have going on in this place. So accept the flowers and my sincere friendship. And don’t be upset about last night. Really. Because I want to do it again. Just you and me, and for no other reason than we both want to.
    Grady
    Warmth unfurled, her heart full at the fact Grady not only wasn’t going to be weird about things, but that he wanted to explore more with her. She reread the note several times, lingering over one specific detail. He’d mentioned his problems with Dean and not Joy. She wanted to take that as a good sign. Had Dean been wrong? Perhaps Grady liked Joy a lot, but the thought of permanence had scared him. Gabby had never sensed Grady to be less than an honorable man, and to just jump into bed with her after catching the love of his life with his brother? It didn’t make sense, considering he hadn’t shown any regret about it in his note. Or had she been wrong about him? Was he just another jerk out to get laid and used his breakup with Joy as an excuse? She didn’t want to believe it. Not of Grady.
    In any case, not having to face him took a load off her mind, and she readied for work humming under her breath, the scent of wildflowers and the faint reminder of Grady lingering in the air.
    Grady Chastell, hunk, incredible lover and wordsmith. Who knew he had it in him?
     
     
    Grady shoved Dean against the wall again. “Fuckhead. I don’t know whether to thank you or fucking kill you.” He didn’t spare Joy a glance as she watched him pound on his brother. The woman sat on his couch in his living room, dressed in one of his T-shirts, her legs bare, her spiky hair framing a sultry face and lively eyes. But from the look of things, she’d slept alone last night. He didn’t scent Dean on her at all. One problem solved, at least.
    “Let go. You’re strangling me.” Dean tried to pry Grady’s fingers from around his throat. “Can’t…breathe…”
    “Oh geez. Grady, ease up, will you?” Joy sighed. “As entertaining as this is, I have enough problems with crazy cats down South. Another dead body is going to put me in the proverbial doghouse with Miles, big time. I’m only allotted one kill a year according to big brother.”
    Grady eased off Dean. They both looked at Joy in surprise. She was normally the easiest to get along with of all the Bermins. Not as shy as Amy, as stuck up as Stacey, or as businesslike as Melissa. She was sexy, friendly and stirred as much desire in Grady as his pregnant sister-in-law now did. He didn’t know why, but he’d never thought of Joy as anything more than a sister.
    She rapped on a side table. “Now that I have your attention, listen up. Grady, this is partly my fault. Dean told me how pathetic you’ve been, and I wanted to help.”
    “Thanks,” Grady growled at his brother.
    “Um, sure. No problem.” Dean squirmed to get free, but Grady locked onto his shirt and didn’t let go. “Come on, bro. I can smell her all over you. It worked, didn’t it?”
    “Only because I had to lie to her for some sympathy. Christ, I really am pathetic.” He groaned and released his brother, then slumped against the wall. “When she learns I lied to her,