The Green-Eyed Doll by Jerrie Alexander Read Free Book Online

Damn, he couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. Her full lips drew him to her. Pulled with the strength of a magnet. Her hands pushed against his chest.
    “Turn me loose.” Her tone dropped an octave with each word, sending him back a step.
    “Of course. I don’t know where my mind went.” Crap, he hadn’t acted this foolish since junior high. Vulnerability hid under that layer of tough-girl independence, and he found her captivating.
    Red flags of color hit her cheeks. “I do.”
    “Come in.” He got the message to back off. The dog approaching from the barn provided him an excuse to change the subject.
    “I better feed him first. He’s always hungry.” Matt grabbed a sack of groceries from the bed of his pickup and carried it inside. “I wouldn’t try to pet him,” he cautioned as he put the bag on the counter.
    “What’s his name?”
    “He doesn’t have one, he…” Matt’s jaw dropped, and he stared in amazement. Catherine had squatted down, and the big lummox of a dog had his head buried in her hands. “I don’t believe it. Ungrateful mutt eats my food but won’t let me near him.”
    “He’s a sweetheart. You can’t own a pet and not name him.”
    “He doesn’t belong to me.”
    “Obviously he does. He lives here with you.”
    “We sort of share space. We do talk. For some reason, he hasn’t told me his name.”
    “Tell me what I can do to help with supper.” She walked to the sink to wash her hands.
    “You can scrub those two potatoes, wrap them in plastic wrap, and stick them in the microwave. Push the button marked ‘Potato.’ That thing thinks for itself. I’m going out back to start the fire.”
    Catherine was standing in his living room when he stepped back inside. She smiled and her beauty hit him in the gut. She’d called him John Wayne the other night. Shit, his attraction to her was far from heroic. It was old-fashioned lust. He’d also been unable to keep her out of his thoughts. She was not only beautiful...she had a secret. And secrets made him curious.
    “Want the grand tour?”
    “Please.”
    “Not much to see.”
    The living room furniture consisted of one leather recliner and a big screen TV. He had no pictures of family to show her, but then there were no tables to set them on. They passed by a couple of rooms with unpacked boxes setting around. He paused in the hallway before allowing her to venture into the his bedroom.
    “I’m not much of a housekeeper,” he admitted when she got a look at his unmade king-size bed. Until now he hadn’t noticed that it looked like a small army had marched over it. The closer she got to the bed, the closer he got to her.
    She turned and bounced off his chest. Instantly her cheeks turned pink.
    “I’ve seen enough. Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome to look around anytime.”
    He inched closer, raised his hand to her cheek, and drew a line down her jaw with the tips of his fingers. He tipped her chin up and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. Somebody moaned. Thank God, it was her. In a quick move, Catherine stiffened and pushed him away.
    “Don’t.”
    Her eyes darkened to hunter green, like an angry ocean right before a storm. No. Not anger. Fear. Her gaze flitted between him and the door. Shit. Was she going to bolt?
    She stepped around him and started out of the room. “Maybe we should get the steaks on the grill.”
    “Hey.” He touched her arm carefully, gently. “Was that too forward of me?”
    “I think so. I’m not sure.”
    His mind spun as he followed her to the kitchen. She checked the potatoes while he stacked silverware, plates, and raw steaks on a tray and carried them outside. His backyard had a couple of huge oak trees. One shaded an old wooden picnic table. Catherine wandered over, sat, and then stretched out her legs. The mutt jogged past him, walked over to her, made a couple of circles, and then plopped down, resting his chin on her feet. Matt considered growling.
    “If it’s too hot out