Playing with Fire by Desiree Holt Read Free Book Online Page B

from over, Cassie.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “You won’t be able to run away from me this time.”
    “Run away?” She met his gaze. “I wasn’t the one who ran off and married someone else. I wasn’t the one who made false promises that I didn’t keep.”
    His face remained expressionless, everything hidden behind the dark glasses. “There’s a lot you don’t know.”
    Fury blazed inside her. “Did you have a good laugh, Griff? Seducing the baby sister of your lover, taking a naïve virgin to your bed then dumping her? Did you all have a good chuckle over that?” She drew a deep breath and fought for control. She hadn’t meant to let him provoke her this way, and her anger was directed as much at herself as at him.
    Griffin yanked off his sunglasses and gripped her arms with his strong hands. His blue eyes flashed in the sunlight. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, each word clipped and sharp. “And you’re wrong. We aren’t done. Not by a long shot.”
    As fast as he had grabbed her, he released her and stepped back. “We will be seeing each other, Cassie. Make no mistake.”
    Then, like smoke in the wind, he was gone.
    She sat in the driver’s seat, shaking uncontrollably, unable even to fit the key in the ignition. The feeling was still there, that flash of intense sexual tension between them, and he could still crack her shell with just a few words. She had to get out of town, had to get away from Griffin Hunter. She didn’t need to go through the pain of losing him again. She’d spent six years blocking it out. She wasn’t sure she had the emotional resources to do it twice.
    Closing her eyes, she reached into the neck of her blouse and pulled out the long silver chain she always wore, fingering the oversized locket at the end. No one else knew that inside the locket lay the tiny silver heart Griffin had given her on their last night together. In all the time since then, despite her unbearable pain, despite the bitter memories, she had never, ever been without it.
    She wanted to put her head down on the steering wheel and weep.
     

Chapter Eight
     
    The afternoon was as unproductive as the morning had been. When Cassie called Neil, he told her the insurance company wouldn’t be faxing him anything until Monday.
    “Sorry. The weekend, you know. But I’ll call you Monday when they come in.” The sound of papers rustled over the phone. “I did call Jesse Markham, and he said one of his daughters would drop by and see you. Do you need some help going through the house? I’d be happy to offer my services.”
    No, thanks . She didn’t need him pawing through her mother’s things or anything else that might turn up. “Thanks anyway, Neil, but I can manage. As a matter of fact, I think it’s something I need to do by myself.”
    “Well, I know you want to get back to Tampa as soon as you can, Cassie, and I’d say that’s a good idea. I’ll do whatever I can to expedite things.”
    She had just started the massive job of cleaning when Carol Markham dropped by. “Nice to see you, Cassie. I’m sorry about your mother. My condolences.”
    “Thank you.”
    Carol was the youngest of Jesse’s daughters and four years older than Cassie. Some said she’d been on the fringes of Diane’s crowd, but she looked very prim and proper now.
    “We’re all on our way to the lake for the weekend,” she said with a breezy air. “How about if I come by late Monday morning? We can do a walk-through and fill out the listing agreement. Sound okay?”
    And if it isn’t? It seemed Stoneham closed up for the weekend, just like it always had.
    “That will be fine.” Did she have a choice?
    Carol’s next words made her tense. “Oh, and do something about the yard. Your mother really let it go. Call Griffin Hunter, or I can do it for you. He’ll fix it up in a jiffy. Bye.” She handed Cassie a business card and breezed out the door.
    Call Griff? Over my dead body . There