Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) by Summer Newman Read Free Book Online Page A

panties. “Not him! Anybody but him!”
    She tried again, knowing it would relax her and she could sleep, but she could not. His face kept appearing to her. Who was this man, this Devon North? What right did he have to intrude on her dreams, especially in such an intimate way? Truth was, he had no right. He was not welcome in her life, in her dreams, and certainly not in her bed. Not in a million years! Again she touched herself, aching to release her pent-up sexual energy, but yet again she could not. Devon North would simply not remove himself from her thoughts. Frustrated, she sighed and turned over, pledging to think of anything but him.
    But he came back. She pictured his face, his hands, his big blue sweater—thoughts of him swirled in her mind like balletic leaves on an autumn wind. He was strange, passing strange, but already he meant something to her, something she could not understand, something that both attracted and repelled her.
    “I do owe you one thing,” she mumbled. “Ever since I met you, I’ve hardly thought about Ivan.”
     
    * * * *
     
    For the next couple hours she tried to sleep but could not. Finally, totally frustrated, she dressed and walked over to the office. Henry was sitting behind the counter and reading a newspaper. He put it down immediately upon seeing her.
    “Hello, Jenny,” he said. “What brings you out so late?”
    “Insomnia,” she replied. “I feel restless.”
    “Do you know Mr. North?” Henry asked, searching out a reason for the heated exchange he witnessed earlier.
    “No, we don’t know each other.”
    “Really,” he said, raising an eyebrow like Mr. Spock on Star Trek. “You seem to have a…an interesting relationship.”
    “I have no relationship with him,” Jenny said.
    “Okay,” Henry answered, totally befuddled.
    Jenny tried to smile but the thought of Devon made her intensely angry. “He’s quite full of himself, isn’t he?”
    Henry looked down and away, not wanting to get drawn into the beginnings of a war. “We all get along well,” he said, “but, to tell you the truth, he seems to resent you for some reason.”
    “I never did anything to him,” Jenny assured.
    He was at a loss to explain it. “Yes, that’s true. You just met.”
    Jenny felt an odd sense of pleasure talking about him. “Where is he staying?”
    “He’s renting a house on Bear River. He comes up every morning and works all day, then goes back to the house to sleep. He’s been doing that for weeks.”
    “Does he have family here?”
    “Not that I’m aware of. He lives by himself.”
    “Not married?”
    “He lives alone—that’s all I know. But I don’t think he’s married.”
    “No girlfriend?”
    “I’ve never seen him with one.”
    “That doesn’t surprise me,” Jenny said casually. “I can’t imagine anyone putting up with his superior attitude.”
    “Oh, there are a lot of interested women in town. I’ve been asked to arrange introductions, but all the man ever does is work. He hasn’t got time for a social life. The only break he’s had from the hotel was today when he went to get the lamb.” Henry tried to appease her. “Devon is not the kind of man who gabs just for the sake of hearing himself. Sure, he wouldn’t make a great party host, but he is a fair, decent man. Ask anyone.”
    “That doesn’t seem possible,” she said honestly.
    “Really, it’s true. He saved some money and saw fit to invest it in a worthwhile project. That tells me the man has character and I don’t mind saying that a woman your age could do much worse.”
    “I suppose,” Jenny remarked distractedly, “that he’d be a real catch…if you were a female grizzly bear.”
    “You’ve misjudged him,” Henry argued. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but he is respected in the community.”
    “So was Attila the Hun.”
    “Maybe he likes you,” Henry offered.
    Jenny laughed and rolled her eyes. “Like me? He can’t stand me.”
    “I