Where Angels Tread by Clare Kenna Read Free Book Online

reaching out her hand for the player. “I think you’re right. He didn’t even tell me he was missing it.” She glanced over her shoulder into the house. “He’s actually not here right now, but thank you so much for bringing it over. You certainly didn’t have to go through all that trouble.”
    “No trouble at all,” he said. “I know you live pretty close to me so I figured I’d save you a trip.” He saw something flash behind her eyes, and her smile wavered for a moment. “No!” he said hurriedly, cursing himself when he realized how strange his words must have sounded. Like he was some kind of creepy stalker. “That came out wrong. I meant to say that when we found the player I looked up the address listed on the police report, saw that you lived relatively close to me, and just decided to drop it off on my way home from work.” He held up his hands. “I’ve never been here before. Promise.”
    Heidi threw her head back and laughed; Shane was mesmerized by the way her hair sparkled in the last embers of the setting sun. “Thank you again for stopping by,” she said, offering him a smile. She hesitated, and Shane saw her fingers tighten around the door frame; she seemed to be having an internal debate about something. Finally, just as Shane was about to turn on his heels and head back to the car, she opened the door an inch wider and stood back. “Would you like to come in for some coffee?”

    Heidi could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she led Shane Kensington into the living room, watching as he carefully wiped his boots on the doormat before sliding them off and arranging them by the front door. When he noticed her watching him, he grinned at her sheepishly. “My mother always taught us that it was polite to take our shoes off before going into someone’s house. I guess that’s one of the things that stuck with me.”
    “Smart woman, your mother,” Heidi offered, returning his smile. She couldn’t believe that Shane, the man who had been haunting her dreams for the past few nights, was standing here, right in her very living room. She glanced down at the scrubs she still wore, and silently berated herself for not bothering to change when she returned home from her shift. Had she known he was going to turn up at her door, Heidi would have put on something a little sexier. Although, she thought, mentally pawing through her wardrobe, single mothers were usually short on cleavage-baring outfits. Stained t-shirts and ripped jeans were a much more appealing uniform.
    “How do you take your coffee?” she asked, bustling into the kitchen with Shane at her heels.
    “Cream and sugar, if you have it.” He stared around the room in interest. “What a great place you have. Lived here long?”
    “About four months,” Heidi said in a muffled voice as she bent to retrieve the ground coffee she kept at the bottom of the pantry. “Before this we lived in a one bedroom apartment for a couple of years, so as you can imagine we were a little cramped.” She poured water into the ancient coffeemaker, praying that it wouldn’t decide that today was the day it would go bust. She added the ground coffee and switched on the appliance, breathing an audible sigh of relief when it churned to life. Heidi was keenly aware of the way Shane’s presence filled every nook and cranny of the room, and was grateful that she had something to distract herself with at the moment.
    She rummaged around in the refrigerator for the creamer, then lifted the sugar bowl out of the cabinet. When she turned around to ask Shane how many spoonfuls of sugar he’d prefer, she stopped in her tracks when she saw him examining John’s photo, which was still on the counter. She cleared her throat, pushing down the lump of emotion that had formed unexpectedly. “That’s my husband, John,” she said.
    She saw Shane flinch slightly and drop his hand away from the frame. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled awkwardly. “I didn’t