The Look-Alike Bride (Crimson Romance) by Kathryn Brocato Read Free Book Online Page B

women hanging on your arms.” Her gaze fell on Butch, who had come to stand in his dignified way in the kitchen door. “Hello, boy. Have you come to sample the cookies?”
    Butch ignored her. His gaze was fixed on the window beyond Adam with such intensity, Leonie frowned and followed his gaze. Her eyes widened and she almost dropped the milk carton.
    “There’s someone out there,” she gasped.
    Adam jerked his head around. “I don’t see anyone.”
    Butch growled a deep, rumbling threat and appeared to bristle.
    “Out there near the pier.” She dropped the carton on the table and rushed to look out the window. “It was a man. I’m sure of it.”
    Adam’s tone was deep and calming. “It probably was a man. People walk along the lakeshore all the time, you know, especially in the evenings.”
    “It’s late,” Leonie reminded him. “And he wasn’t walking. He was just standing there, looking in at us.”
    Butch gave a sharp, short bark.
    “And Butch doesn’t like it,” she added. “Maybe I should open the door and let him check it out.”
    “If it’s a dangerous marauder,” Adam said gently to let her know he was sure it wasn’t, “Butch could get hurt. If it’s a neighbor taking his nightly stroll by the lake, you may wind up being sued over dog bites.”
    “Butch wouldn’t bite anybody who didn’t deserve it.” Leonie promptly decided against letting the dog out. She didn’t know what she’d do if poor Butch was hurt by a hostile stranger.
    “I’ll go out and see who it is,” Adam said, sliding out of the dinette. “Pour me another glass of that milk. I’ll need it after I finish subduing this prowler.”
    Leonie made a face at his back. This was just what she needed to make her vacation complete—a peeping Tom at her window and a man who made fun of her concerns.
    When Adam reached the door, Butch followed and tried to beat him outside. Adam opened the door a crack and slipped through, shutting the door in the dog’s face.
    Butch whined and looked back at Leonie.
    “Sorry, boy.” She stood helplessly at the door, scratching the collie’s ears and wishing Adam would come back inside. “He’s gone out there to prove we’re a bunch of wimps and worrywarts. I say we eat all the cookies and drink all the milk while he’s gone. What about it?”
    Butch wasn’t interested. He continued to stand with his long, white-and-orange nose pressed between the crack in the door and the door frame.
    Leonie sighed. “You would turn out to be a dog devoted to duty. And you probably don’t like sweets, either. Why is it I’m always surrounded by paragons of virtue?”
    Butch whined and pawed at the door, then looked back at her.
    “Sorry, boy. Adam’s right. It’s probably just a neighbor on his nightly stroll, and you’d get us sued if you roughed him up for trespassing.”
    She wanted to believe it, but the brief glimpse she’d caught left her with a definite impression of someone who was interested in watching the goings-on in her kitchen. The thought made her both angry and scared.
    Wait until she heard from Zara. She’d have a few things to say about the so-called “safety” of this job.
    The door opened, and Adam had to shove Butch back before he could enter. The dog practically quivered in his eagerness to get outside.
    “There’s no one out there,” Adam reported, in tones that said, “I told you so.”
    Leonie looked at Butch. “Butch has sharper senses than we do, and he says there was somebody out there.”
    “Well, he’s not out there now.” Adam took her arm and gently turned her toward the kitchen.
    “No footprints? No dropped cigarette butts?”
    “It’s a rocky shoreline.” He grinned at her. “If you’re worried, close the curtains. You’ll lose your view of the lake by moonlight, but you won’t be plagued by mysterious watchers.”
    Leonie grumbled, but she knew Adam was right. If she wanted to avoid trouble, she needed to close the curtains.
    So much,