Read Online Hard Irish by Jennifer Saints - Free Book Online Page B

against her breasts and he inhaled, letting her citrus and coconut scent imbue him with a sense of the tropics—steamy sun and bare skin.
    She counted.  The men lifted, and Jared, using his right leg, helped Roxanne to free him from the planter.  He flipped onto his back.  The pain in his leg worsened and he sucked in air.
    Positioning herself at his side, she slid her hands down his legs.  “Can you feel me?”
    His gaze met hers.  She was a picture of raw beauty, crisp green eyes brimming with worry, tanned skin, full bottom lip trapped beneath pearly white teeth.  Christ.  “Yeah, I can feel you,” he whispered, his voice scraping over the jagged lump of need she evoked.
    “Call an ambulance,” she said, likely mistaking his want of her for overwhelming pain.  He hurt, but it wasn’t killing him, not like having her all over him was.
    “No.  No ambulance.” He laughed.  “You make it sound as if I’m dying.  My name’s Jared Weldon.  In case you need to write it on my tombstone.”
    She glared at him.  “Not funny, Jared.  This is my job site.  Any man goes down for any reason he gets cleared by the hospital.  No exceptions.  So don’t argue.”
    “Fine.  I’ll get checked. My brother’s a doctor, so save the ambulance for someone having a heart attack.  I can drive myself.”
    “Wrong.  If anything, I’ll be taking you.”  She set her hand on his chest as if to settle the issue.
    Jared slid his hand over hers and lowered his voice.  “It isn’t me you need to worry about.”
    Her clover eyes widened and her pupils darkened with desire before she slid her hand away.  “What do you mean?”
    Jared took heart.  She was just as responsive to his touch as his kiss.  “You need a bodyguard.  That planter had help finding its way to the ground.  I heard a scrape just before it fell.”
    He sucked in another breath and shivered.  Dear God.  What would have happened to her if he hadn’t shown up ?
    The men cursed and Roxanne raised a brow.  “Mack, go check out where this sucker came from and find out from Maggie who’s on today’s work list for that area.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”  Mack hurried off.
    “I heard this place was haunted,” Riley muttered, looking around as if a knife was inches from his throat.
    Roxanne rolled her eyes. “You men have been muttering about ghosts and curses all day.  It’s all nonsense, Riley.  Now make yourself useful.  Bring the first aid kit and move my truck as close to this side of the building as you can.”
    Riley walked away with a frown.
    Jared shook his head.  “No truck.  I don’t need you to take me—”
    “You don’t get to decide.  Around here, I’m the boss.  Your job is to listen and comply unless you’ve got a damn good reason not to.  Then I’m all ears.”
    Jared’s jaw dropped a moment before he could snap it shut.  Roxanne McKenna ran a tight-assed ship and didn’t put up with shit.  Hell, if he heard right, she even had lists delineating who was to be where when.
    “Right now.  We need to focus on getting your boot off before your foot becomes too swollen to get it off.  That’s one experience you do not want to go through. I know.”
    “Okay.” Jared leaned up on his elbows to watch her unlace his boot.  He was surprised to see how bent the boot was.  As if the metal support had buckled.  Her movements were gentle and precise.  She seemed to know what she was doing, and Jared found himself relaxing and letting her take charge.  Since she was determined to have him checked out, he might as well enjoy the ride.  And in all honestly, he didn’t have a good reason why she shouldn’t accompany him.
    In fact, there were several damn good reasons why she should, besides the bonus of getting to spend some alone time with her.  If she was with him then no more planters could mysteriously fall and no asshole ex could abuse her.
    The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that she