The Lawson Boys: Marty by Angela Verdenius Read Free Book Online Page A

their tables, speaking softly. The music
from downstairs was subdued here, but it provided a pleasant
background.
    The sight of a
couple kissing in the far corner booth made Belle look away
quickly, a feeling of sadness sweeping over her.
    “Don’t.”
    Startled, she
looked across the table to meet Marty’s steady regard. “What?”
    “Don’t feel sad
for getting out of what was a nasty situation.”
    “I’m not.”
    “Really?” That
one word was filled with heavy sarcasm.
    That stung.
“What would you know about it?”
    “I was at the
wedding, remember?” Marty shrugged. “I kind of got the whole
story.”
    “Really?” It
was her turn to be sarcastic.
    “Really.”
    “Then we don’t
need to discuss it, do we?”
    “Were we going
to discuss it?”
    “Isn’t that
what we were doing?”
    “In that case,
what happened?”
    “I thought you
knew?”
    “I can guess in
a nutshell.”
    “Enlighten me.”
Annoyed that he had the gall to presume to know what had happened,
she folded her arms and sat back in the chair.
    Playing with
the coaster on the table, turning it around and around in dexterous
fingers, Marty continued to regard her steadily. “Trevor came to
your town on business. He met you somewhere. He wined and dined
you, was attentive, wormed his way into your trust, you slept with
him, he promised everything and came back to the city. How am I
doing so far?”
    Pretty good,
actually, but Belle wasn’t admitting it.
    Apparently it
didn’t faze Marty, for he continued relating exactly what had
happened. “He sent you a phone call, said he was busy and couldn’t
come to see you for awhile and you decided to surprise him. Down
you came with stars in your eyes but you found out he was getting
married. Am I still on the right track?”
    What, had the
man been standing by her side the whole last couple of weeks,
invisible to sight? Belle swallowed, feeling like a fool for being
so transparent. “I guess a country mouse is easy to read, huh?” A
lump rose in her throat.
    He grinned
crookedly. “I have to say, crashing that wedding was hot.”
    In the act of
trying to swallow the lump down and not burst into tears, Belle
gaped. “Huh?”
    “There you
came, Trevor’s little country fling, storming down the aisle to
make him pay penance. He was found out, and rather than hide under
a rock somewhere, you, Belle, called him out in front of all and
sundry.” Marty shook his head admiringly. “He found out that not
every woman was going to let him get away with it. You are some
woman, Belle Broune.”
    “Some woman,”
she echoed almost bitterly. “I made a fool of myself. I should have
just left the city as soon as I heard.”
    “Nah.” Marty
waggled the coaster at her. “You’re not the sort of woman who cuts
and runs.”
    “You don’t know
that.”
    He studied her
consideringly. “I’m generally a pretty good judge of
character.”
    “You hardly
know me.”
    His smile was
slow and oh, so knowing. It made her feel a little flustered and
she glanced away, fiddling with the clutch in her lap. When she
glanced back at him, he was still watching her.
    Really watching
her. Studying her. His brilliant blue-eyed gaze slid from her eyes
to her lips, lingered, darkened, and trailed lower, stopping on her
breasts briefly before lifting once more to meet her gaze head
on.
    Her cheeks
flamed.
    His lips
quirked.
    Her eyes
narrowed.
    His eyes
darkened even more.
    “I find your
lecherous regard of me totally offensive,” she said in a low, angry
voice.
    Surprise
flickered across his face. “I beg your pardon?”
    “You should do.
Do you look at all women like that?”
    “Like
what?”
    “Like you’re
undressing them in your mind?”
    His expression
went blank.
    And then she
realised of what she’d accused him. Oh crap. No way would a man
like Marty be looking at her as though visually undressing her. Not
her. Not a woman with an overblown figure that required shopping in
the plus-sized section of