Read Online Come Fly with Me by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online Page A

brought an immediate smile to her lips.
    â€œShadow, this is Lindsay,” Mark said as the dog cocked its head and looked at her. At least she thought he was looking at her. Hisdark, button eyes were shaded by a thick fringe of shaggy fur.
    She held out her hand and Shadow sniffed it politely, then, bored with his effort to greet the newcomers, wandered back toward the fire and flopped down again, obviously no longer interested in their presence in what was clearly his domain.
    â€œYou leave him here alone?” she asked incredulously, adding dryly, “Does he cook his own meals and build his own fires?”
    Mark grinned. “Of course not. Mrs. Tynan looks after him. She brought him back up here today. She lit the fire and probably stocked the refrigerator as well, if I know her. When I stopped by to see her this morning on my way to pick you up, I told her I was bringing a lovely guest back with me.”
    â€œIs Mrs. Tynan your housekeeper?”
    â€œHardly. You’ll meet her. She runs the general store about a mile from here. She’s a crusty old gal, who talks like she could bite nails in two, but she’s got a heart a mile wide.”
    There was a warm note in Mark’s voice that suggested Mrs. Tynan was someone very special to him. But Lindsay knew somethingabout small, tight-knit environments. Gossip ran rampant and, if an efficiency expert had done a flow diagram of its path, it would have led right back to someplace like a general store. The idea did not exactly cheer her. This visit was awkward enough, with its increasingly disturbing mix of personal and business implications, without adding all sorts of interested local speculation about who Mark Channing might be romancing now.
    â€œYou told the woman who runs the general store that you were bringing me here?” Lindsay asked with evident dismay. “Why on earth would you do something like that?”
    â€œWell, I didn’t exactly give her your name, occupation and physical description. Just the general idea. Anything more, she assumed herself,” he countered lightly, then taunted, “She’d have found out about you soon enough anyway. She’s been trying to get me married off for several years now. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to meet you.”
    Despite her misgivings, a little flutter of excitement built in the pit of Lindsay’s stomach at his casual reference to marriage. When she recovered from the unwanted, though definitely titillating reaction, she said tartly, “Notwhen she finds out my only interest in you is limited to discovering how distinctively you can sign your name on a contract.”
    Mark regarded her doubtfully. “That’s your only interest?” he queried softly, taking a step that brought him within mere inches of her. That little flutter returned in full measure and her heart palpitated erratically as he provocatively trailed a finger down her cheek and across her lips. Dark eyes, glittering with amusement, challenged hers.
    Lindsay’s breath caught in her throat. She didn’t dare risk speaking, so she merely nodded. It was less emphatic than she might have liked.
    â€œLike hell,” he muttered disbelievingly, then walked off to put her suitcase in a room down the hall. She wished like crazy that her room was a minimum of four miles from his, but it looked like a very short hallway.
    In the meantime she stood right where he’d left her, her feet planted so firmly in place she felt as if she’d been born and reared right there and might very well die there, if he touched her again like that and didn’t do more. A whole lot more! A kiss would be a start, but only a start. She had a feeling thatonce she was in Mark Channing’s arms, she’d never want him to let go.
    That , Lindsay Tabor, she told herself sternly, is something you are not about to risk.
    When he came back a moment later, he obviously noted that she hadn’t