Wild Card by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online Page B

back to her,
    the blue of his eyes threatening to steal her breath again.
    His voice was quiet, reasonable, but it sent a flare of fury racing through her system. How dare
    he be here, ruining the fragile balance she had found in her life with his blue eyes, his raspy
    voice. She lifted her chin defiantly, hating it, hating his eyes, and the weariness that seemed to
    fill them. And she refused to let herself care.
    "I'm doing just fine, all by my lonesome, mister," she assured him mockingly. She drew herself
    stiffly erect. "You're a stranger here—"
    "Ma'am, I'm stating a fact."
    Oh God… She wanted to scream at him, to beat at him for stealing her peace, for taking the
    fragile calm she had finally managed to build around herself with the unexplained response she
    could feel roiling inside her. "All I need is the job Rory promised." He flashed a hard smile.
    "He is your partner, isn't he?"
    "That's not the point,"' she snapped. "Look, mister—"
    "Noah. Noah Blake."
    Noah. Irish. Go síoraí, I'll love you forever . For a moment, the slightest wish whispered
    through her mind and she thought of Nathan.
    He hadn't loved her forever though. His need for danger, for the adrenaline rush and
    excitement, had carried him away from her. and he'd found death instead. Leaving her alone.
    Leaving her to survive without him for six heartbreaking years.
    Now another Irish wildman was stepping into her life, trying to take it over? She shook her
    head. No, never again. No man would ever fill her, ever own her as her husband had. It wasn't
    possible. And she wasn't going to give this one the chance.
    She opened her eyes, lifted her head, and stared back at him as the old, driving fury consumed
    her once again. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin defiantly.
    "I said no. Now leave. I have work to do and I just don't have time for you."' She turned on her heel and stalked back into the garage, stemming the hollow pain that beat at her throat and
    moistened her eyes.
    She was finally forgetting, she didn't need to be reminded of Irish eyes, soul-stealing kisses, or
    promises broken.
    Her husband was gone. He was dead, his body sealed in a government casket and lowered into
    a dark, open hole. She had watched them cover it, watched each shovelful of dirt as it sealed a
    reality she had fought to reject.
    God, how she had loved him. His laughter, his voice, his big body and his temper.
    She forced herself to breathe through the memories, to place one foot in front of the other and
    to walk away from her response to the man who uncovered those memories within her.
    "Belle Malone." A furious male voice sliced through her thoughts as she headed for the sedan
    she had been working on earlier, bringing her to a stop as she turned slowly toward the open
    garage doors and bit back a curse.
    Ladies didn't cuss, she reminded herself. No matter the provocation. And she was being
    provoked. God, why hadn't she just stayed in bed this morning? Mike Conrad was a bull of a
    man. He'd been one of her husband's friends, but now he was becoming a pain in her ass.
    "Mike, we're working on it." She lifted her hand in greeting, praying he hadn't been drinking.
    "I'll have it ready in the morning."
    "That's what that little bastard Rory has said for two weeks." He stalked into the bay, ignoring the sign that warned customers to stay behind the dingy yellow line. "You said two weeks, no
    more."
    Sabella bit her tongue and reminded herself she couldn't afford to piss him off too much. His
    bank held the note on the garage and on the house, and he had threatened more than once to
    make sure they foreclosed if she missed so much as the first payment.
    Thinning blond hair was cut short, almost buzzed. Weak brown eyes were watering and
    bloodshot from liquor and his bloated, reddened face was twisted in rage. Great. She needed
    this like she needed the behemoth standing in her office right now.
    "I still have today, Mike." She pulled on patience she