Read Online Finally Home by Dawn Michele Werner - Free Book Online Page B

stopped. Noah was peeling off his shirt. “What are you doing?”
    “ Taking off my shirt.”
    Her pulse quickened. “What for?”
    “ Because I’m hot,” he declared, his voice rough with annoyance.
    She tried not to stare, but found her eyes wandering over Noah’s tight chest muscles and flat stomach. Averting her gaze, she waited for her breathing to return to normal, then turned back to Noah. “I was hoping you’d show me the barn.”
    He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans, then exhaled deeply. “Amanda, there’s not much left. It’s a good thing you didn’t show up when all the ruckus started. You would only have--”
    “ Been in the way?”
    “ I wasn’t going to say it like that.”
    “ Doesn’t matter how you say it. It’s what you think.”
    “ Amanda, you don’t know what I think.”
    I wish I did! She wanted to shout. I wish I could read your thoughts...to understand your feelings...how you feel about me.
    “ A-All I w-want to know is how the fire started,” she said nervously. He was tying her heart into knots. If she had to look at him any longer...standing there shirtless....
    “ I told you, I don’t know.”
    She wrapped her cotton robe snuggly around her body, feeling a sudden crisp breeze. Mr. Ellinger. Her mind raced with the possibility. Could he have started the fire...as a warning? He had been pretty upset with her yesterday when she refused to sell Moonlight Ranch.
    She tapped a finger to her chin. “I have my suspicions about how that fire started, you know.”
    Noah gazed at her, suddenly noticing how breathtaking she looked beneath the moonlight. But he wasn’t going to allow her to distract him, he couldn’t afford that...he needed his focus to remain on selling the ranch. His furniture business depended on it.
    Rubbing his eyes, he wondered how late it was. He had been up way to long! And when he tried to focus on Amanda’s voice, he felt a sudden dizziness. “I can’t discuss this right now, Amanda. We’ll talk tomorrow,” he said. Glancing at her briefly, he made his way to the front door.
    “ It is tomorrow,” Amanda whispered. Folding her arms over her chest, she watched him enter the house. But when she turned to walk away, Noah called her name. She twirled around to find him holding the front door open.
    “ Don’t try to figure out the fire...let me handle it.”
    She frowned. “You’re forgetting, we’re partners now. We’ll handle it together.”
    “ Please don’t cause any trouble, there’s no proof that Mr. Ellinger started the fire--”
    “ And there is no proof that he didn’t!” Amanda interjected.
    “ I give up for tonight,” Noah waved his hands in submission. “Good night, Amanda.”
    She turned to leave once more, wondering if he would pop his head out again and call her name. But he didn’t. Hopefully she could catch a few hours of sleep before she returned to the ranch and investigated the site of the fire. She didn’t know why, but felt almost certain that Mr. Ellinger was to blame. And maybe she could find some clue he left behind.
    As she walked, she tilted her head back and stared at the moon. It was shining tonight. Showering the ranch with moonlight kisses. She wondered if Noah ever gazed at the moon, if he noticed how brilliantly it glowed. Maybe if he did, he would see things differently. Maybe he would see the ranch through her eyes.
    ********
    Getting only four hours of sleep didn’t seem to affect Amanda’s working ability. After crumbling into bed and waking up at nine o’clock, she immediately went to her computer and began working on her latest project. Creativity struck at the strangest times. She was almost sure that she could get her current client’s web site completed by the end of the week. And then, after talking to Noah, she wanted to design a spectacular web site for Moonlight Ranch. She had already scribbled a few pages of ideas into a notebook that she felt would be great for the web