Read Online Garden of Dreams by Patricia Rice - Free Book Online

those atrocious bib shorts today. She’d apparently dressed for guests by donning a breezy, flowery long dress that she wore over a tight ribbed shirt. He personally thought the combination awful, but he admitted to some prejudice against long skirts over those lovely legs. If she had breasts, the dress’s loose bodice disguised the fact. He rather thought if she had anything to show, she would. Women usually knew their most attractive assets. So he could assume she hid what she didn’t have. Lust-crazed idiot that he was, that didn’t keep him from wanting to see more.
    Since she didn’t answer him immediately, JD tried explaining in a manner that might reassure her doubts. “Look, I just talked to the mechanic. It will be weeks before he can put the truck together. I promised Jackie we’d have a little fun together this summer. A friend of mine offered the loan of his summer house on Myrtle Beach. I figured I could work on my programming while Jackie made some new friends, and we would have plenty of time to get out and enjoy ourselves.”
    He strangled his walking stick in helplessness. “Now we’re stranded here in the middle of nowhere. I’ve already checked, and it’s too late to reserve any of the cabins or rooms at the state parks. If we could just have a place to stay, I figure I could make the best of it, take him swimming, waterskiing, whatever. He has a learner’s permit. I don’t know what the state law is around here, but I thought I could take him out on the Harley. I just need time to get this job done, then the truck should be back together and we can head out for the beach again.”
    She still seemed slightly dazed, but she picked up her watering can and began working on another overgrown green monstrosity. JD had never seen so many plants in one place, and he lived in California, for pete’s sake. He had the feeling if he took a machete through here, he might uncover a Mayan ruin or two.
    â€œI don’t even know you,” she finally murmured, reaching for a fern hanging over her head. “You could be a serial killer for all I know. Maybe if you’d let Hoyt check you out, if you’d given your real name...” She hesitated, making even that possibility seem remote.
    JD knotted his fist around the walking stick. The more she resisted, the more he intended to push. His first decision might have been reckless, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it answered a dozen problems, without his even contemplating the slender woman tempting his vision right now. Add her to the mix, and he settled in concrete. He hadn’t gotten where he was today by quitting.
    â€œLook, if I tell you the truth and you see how innocent it is, would you give me a chance?”
    For someone of her pale coloring, she certainly had noticeable lashes. Long and cinnamon-colored, they flapped closed, creating soft brown arcs across her cheeks, as if she squeezed her eyes shut in hopes he would disappear. When she opened them again, JD moved a little closer. He didn’t know why he did that. He had rotten luck with women—probably his own fault, he admitted honestly. But he’d never learned to curb his impulses.
    Nina backed away. He took the watering can and easily watered the plant she strained to reach.
    â€œI can’t believe a thing you say,” she reminded him.
    â€œYou can check with Jackie. He’ll tell you exactly what I’ll tell you now.”
    He still saw suspicion in her eyes, but she didn’t instantly tell him to go to hell. Like she ought to. Even he admitted that.
    â€œJackie’s mother married a man who beats her. Jackie’s tried stopping the guy several times and got smashed against the wall for his efforts. Now his stepfather has taken to carrying a gun, and Jackie is terrified of him. It isn’t a healthy situation. With school out for the summer, it could become explosive. Jackie