Read Online Blind-Date Bride by Jillian Hart - Free Book Online Page A

paper cups before Colbie could and filled both with steamy water.
    “Did you get an e-mail from Luke about Dad?” Colbie’s voice dropped low. Unhappiness pinched her pretty face. She busily chose two tea bags and dropped them in the cups of water.
    “Yes. I thought we were through with all that.” Bree’s stomach bunched up. See? This was probably a sign from above. As much as she didn’t want to look back and let her past dictate her future, she was forced to. After years of silence, the letters and phone calls were starting again. “He probably just wants money.”
    “Like we’re all so flush.” Colbie rolled her eyes, as if trying to make light of something that hadn’t been funny at all. Colbie hadn’t been able to afford college, something she had wanted very much. She had other responsibilities, a mom who wasn’t well. Medicine and home care were expensive, even with the state’s help. “Oh, here he comes. You have to introduce him.”
    “Sure, but you’ve got to stop gushing like that.”
    “He’s just so gorgeous. Like an action-film dude.”
    “Tell me about it.” It didn’t help that he waded into the store with his wide shoulders braced, his hands fisted and snow clinging to every powerful line. The impression was one of a capable man tested by time and hardship. Hard for a girl like her to resist, a girl who wanted the kind of man she could believe in, one who would never let her down. He definitely looked like that guy.
    “If your sister’s car is the one with the bike rack, then it has a flat tire. Hand over the keys, and I’ll swap it out with the spare. That is, if you have a spare.”
    “Yes, I do.” Leave it to Colbie to walk right up to himwith her welcoming smile. She pulled her keys out of her trouser’s pocket. “Brianna and I would be deeply indebted to you. If you hadn’t noticed, we would have been stranded when we went to leave. At night. In the snow.”
    “No problem.” Max didn’t smile but he did take the keys.
    When he glanced up, his gaze focused on Brianna with startling impact. The connection returned, although they hadn’t touched. A forceful jolt of emotion left her trembling. Time froze. She felt stripped away of her defenses, of all protection. Utterly vulnerable, as if he could see right into her. No one had ever been so close to her before. Panic unfurled within her and she dropped a sugar packet, distantly aware that it was spilling.
    “I’ll be back.” Max turned his back, strode to the door and called over his shoulder. “I’m counting to three, kid. You had better come help me. Or else.”
    His wink belied his words as the bells overhead jingled joyfully.

Chapter Six

    “I think she really likes you.”
    Marcus’s declaration startled him. What did a kid know about it? Mad, he whipped around to get a good look at the boy, and pain cracked across his skull. How had he forgotten he was halfway under a car?
    Just went to show how far gone he was over the woman.
    “That had to hurt, bro.” Marcus sympathized. “I’ve never seen you hit your head before. You must really like her, too.”
    “Mind your own business, Romeo.” What did a man have to do for a little privacy? He rubbed the bruise forming on his noggin—good thing he had a hard head—and gave the chains another check. Yep, good and tight. That ought to see the women home safely. This time he crawled out from beneath the car before he lifted his head. “Make yourself useful and take those keys to the ladies.”
    “Don’t you want to do it?”
    There was a loaded question. Yes, he did. He wouldgive just about anything to see Brianna again. But looking would lead to talking and talking to liking her even more. What good would come from that?
    He wasn’t that guy—the one she was looking for. One thing was for sure. Whoever that dude turned out to be, the one who won her heart one day, he would be one blessed guy. Max swept the snow off his clothes, for all the good it did. He