Read Online Cowboy Who Came For Christmas (Harlequin Romance) by Lenora Worth - Free Book Online Page A

completely. Too cold out here.”
    “Fine.”
    That sun might shine a light on things she wanted to hide. But if she kept him on the road and out of the woods, they should be okay.
    She should be okay.
    He grabbed his coat and hat. Then he turned to holster his gun. “Let’s go then.”
    Sophia felt as if she was about to go on a death march. How could she keep up this charade until the winter mix had melted completely? Until she could wave goodbye to Adan? Until she found out for sure if a criminal who wanted her dead was still out there somewhere?
    With weak cell signals and frozen roads below them, Sophia figured he’d be here for a couple of days, at least. No snowplows or tow trucks would dare come here, anyway. This mountain was too remote for any kind of county maintenance.
    She was juggling a lot of snowballs and they could all come crashing down on her if she wasn’t careful.
    * * *
    T HEY WALKED DOWN the curving mountain road in silence.
    Adan wondered what Sophia was thinking. She’d been a bit too keen on escorting him to his truck. Probably afraid he’d stumble on the place she’d obviously hidden a criminal. Or possibly, she was trying to stall him while the others helped that criminal get away.
    But he still couldn’t figure out how anyone could have found a hiding place out here in this whitewashed world. The only visible cabins were up the ridge on a flat incline. He’d checked around the area when they’d first walked outside. Sophia had pointed out the circle of cabins and mentioned again the people who lived here year-round.
    “The last cabin’s vacant. The owners usually come up here in the spring and summer.”
    Adan should have searched more last night, but the driving snow and the possibility of getting lost in whiteout had held him back. “I’ll want to check the cabins before we head down the road to my truck. He could have broken into one.”
    She’d obediently followed him, her gaze cutting here and there through the ice-covered trees. When they’d searched around the vacant cabin and glanced in the windows, Adan decided he could rule out anyone hiding inside. No signs of forced entry in the windows or doors.
    So what would he find on down the road?
    Now they were headed past the little community and down the sloping road, the way slippery with ice patches and thick with snowdrifts. So far, they hadn’t seen a soul. The woods were quiet and settled in a blanket of fresh, powdery snow.
    “It rarely snows this heavily here,” Sophia said, her breath wispy around her. “I need to take some pictures.”
    “It’s cold,” he said, hoping to rouse her into more small talk. “And beautiful.”
    “Yes.”
    She said that in a way that implied he might be stupid.
    Adan smiled at her attitude. If he could trust her, that kind of sass might be cute. But since he couldn’t trust her, it only managed to irritate him.
    He tried again. “Did you have any big plans for today?”
    “No.”
    “So do you try to work every day?”
    “Most days, yes.” She actually cut him a glance. “I like to take long walks and find different things to include in my work. Twigs and leaves, old buttons and scraps, feathers. I never know what I’ll find.”
    “My job is kind of like that, too,” Adan replied, glad for the comparison. “I have to put together bits and pieces of different things to come up with a way to solve a case.”
    She slanted her gaze toward him again. “Are you comparing your job to art?”
    “I guess I am. It requires a certain amount of artistic persuasion to find out what I need to know.”
    “Oh, is that what you’d call this? You questioning my every move and badgering me to come clean on something I don’t even know about? That’s your kind of art?”
    “I am painting a picture in my mind, yes.”
    “Are you always this funny?”
    “I have my moments.”
    She gave him a harsh glance followed by a wry smile. “At least you’re not boring.”
    “You might change