The Girl in the Hard Hat by Loretta Hill Read Free Book Online

I’m starting to feel like a third wheel.’
    If she were honest, Nathan had only ever been a holiday fling. All the same, his rejection had hurt. There was no sense in going through that again. She had already made the decision that any time off she had here was going to be spent looking for her father.
    Maybe it was because of the music in her ears or her preoccupation with her own thoughts but she didn’t notice that the man from the car park had started following her until she was about halfway to the lookout.
    On a bend in the road, she caught him out of the corner of her eye jogging only a couple of metres behind her. Was he tailing her?
    An awful thought occurred to her.
    Lone female.
    On the top of an isolated hill.
    No witnesses present to see her dragged behind a bush.
    Her blood boiled. Not in this lifetime!
    She took a wrong turn to see what he would do. He turned off in a different direction. She breathed an inwards sigh of relief that was closely followed by guilt. Was she always this distrustful and paranoid of people? Or just since she’d found out she was adopted?
    Get a grip, Wendy!
    After jogging down another street, she looped back and headed up to the lookout again, increasing her speed. She really needed to stop jumping to conclusions so fast. It was doing her head in. The world had not changed. She just knew more about it.
    She jogged up to the top of the grassy mound and surveyed the town laid out before her in the dim twilight.
    ‘Hey, gorgeous!’
    The suggestive tone had her spinning around faster than an eighties yoyo.
    ‘You again.’
    The good-looking stranger was standing a mere metre and a half behind her. Tall, well built and a little too close in her opinion. She glared at him. He put his hands on his hips, sweat from his jog glistening on the parts of his chest that were exposed by his loose-fitting tank top.
    His lips curled. ‘I thought you might be coming up here.’ He took another step towards her.
    In her startled state, it seemed like all the proof she needed. Her hand pulled back and . . . THWACK! She struck him full against his jawline. He staggered back, his palm to his cheek.
    ‘What the hell did you do that for?’
    She widened her stance and raised both hands. ‘I’m warning you, I’ve taken self-defence classes.’
    He seemed amused. ‘Karate?’
    ‘Among other things.’
    ‘I see.’ He rubbed his jaw but didn’t step back.
    Her alarm heightened. ‘Who are you? Where are you from?’
    ‘I’m from the camp, same as you.’ He took another step closer, hands spread wide. ‘Just calm down, I’m not here to hurt you.’
    ‘Don’t tell me to calm down.’ She tossed her head and maintained her stance. ‘Why were you following me?’
    He ignored her question, however, as he eyed her thoughtfully. ‘You know, I don’t know what they were teaching you in those classes but if you want to exert more damage on your opponent, you shouldn’t use an open palm. Try a fist or kick next time. In fact,’ he nodded as though he were doing her a favour, ‘if you want to practise on me now, go ahead. I promise I won’t fight back.’
    Her bravado faltered and her hands dropped slightly. A would-be attacker didn’t usually offer free punches to his victim. Annoyance replaced her fear as she studied him. She didn’t need a psychic to tell her that those love-you-today leave-you-tomorrow eyes were Trouble with a capital T.
    ‘I don’t want to hit you again,’ she snapped.
    He sighed. ‘Would you prefer it if I provoked you in some way?’
    ‘ Huh? ’
    Without explaining further, her leaned in and kissed her.
    It was the most unexpected, outrageous, incorrigible thing that anyone had done to her.
    Ever!
    What was even worse was the fact that while he took her mouth, he didn’t touch her. She could have jumped away from him. Run off down the hill. Instead, like a cobra entranced by a snake charmer’s flute, she closed her eyes for just a few seconds to enjoy his