Read Online Hard to Handle by Lori Foster - Free Book Online Page B

anyone else, I’d say you did great.”
    â€œThanks. But then I had to walk about a quarter of a mile to get here. That doesn’t sound that far, except that it’s so damn cold outside. The wind is brutal, and the snow’s coming down so fast that half the time I couldn’t see where I was stepping. It was up to my knees—and even higher than that whenever I accidentally went off the road.”
    Good God. Harley pictured her struggling through the storm and it made him furious. He doubted she weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds, and most of that was soft curves, not sturdy muscle.
    Only a quarter of a mile away—but she could have died out there and because she lived alone, who would have noticed?
    And he’d kept her waiting while he talked with his uncle on the phone. “You should have said something, damn it.”
    She shrugged.
    â€œWere you hurt at all?”
    â€œAmazingly enough, not even a scratch.”
    â€œYou’re sure? Sometimes with car wrecks, you don’t realize how badly you’re hurt until after the shock wears off.”
    â€œI’m cold, Harley, maybe angry, and a little scared. But I’m not in shock.”
    Harley wasn’t entirely convinced of that. Most women might become clingy after the fright of a near wreck.
    Anastasia wasn’t one of them.
    In all his dealings with her, he’d gotten the impression of staunch independence and incredible strength. The drama of a crash might make her edgier, but it’d take more than that for her to show so much vulnerability.
    Something more had happened. If it wasn’t shock that had her crushing so close, then what? “I understand scared. You could have been killed. But why be angry?”
    With emotion simmering in her dark eyes—the kind of emotion that could be fury—Anastasia looked up at him. “Right before I wrecked, someone was following me, right on my bumper.” She drew a shuddering breath. “Almost like the driver wanted to force me off the road.”
    Harley held her arms just above her elbows. With his thumbs, he caressed her. “So who was it?”
    She shook her head. “It was too dark for me to tell. But on a night like this, why would anyone, even an idiot, drive so recklessly?”
    â€œA drunk, maybe?”
    â€œIt’s possible.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you know what I think?”
    Harley braced himself. “What?”
    â€œI think whoever was trailing behind me is also the person who cut my brake lines.”

    H ARLEY was big and safe, and best of all, warm. It felt very nice to have his arms around her. But Stasia knew she had to stop hanging on him. Whatever had just happened to her, it wasn’t his problem. He needed to head home, tonight, right now. He had other, very important priorities and she was a big girl who could attend to her own issues.
    Putting her palms to his chest, Stasia tried to ease him back. “I’m okay now.”
    He didn’t budge. “No, you’re not.”
    Stasia felt the tension vibrating through him. And here she’d only been focusing on her own upset! She stopped pressing away to look up at him.
    While he’d spoken to his uncle, she’d been unable to tune out Harley’s end of the conversation. It didn’t take great insight to know that he butted heads with good old Uncle Satch on a regular basis. “Harley?”
    He took one hard step back, picked up her coffee, and handed it to her. “It’s cooled enough now. Drink it, and then we’ll go look at your truck.”
    â€œYou need to head home.”
    â€œI will. Afterward.”
    Trying to decide how to handle him, she sipped at the coffee. “Harley, listen. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you. I just…I had to say it out loud, that’s all. I don’t expect you to—”
    As if in deep thought, he spoke without looking at her.