Read Online Irresistible Knight by Tierney O’Malley - Free Book Online Page A

The man asked for her social security number, birth date and a zip code, and then put her on hold. When he came back on the line, he apologized for the wait. Nice, Taylor thought. Yet, what the man said next made her grit her teeth. The account was frozen. She didn't have to ask the questions. It was clear—she was freaking broke. Thanks to her father.
    “Shit. God damn it. Freaking freak!” She hung up her phone. Well nothing left to do here. She removed the slippers and placed them on the counter. “Well, I'm returning the flip-flops.”
    “Why? You don't like the color?”
    Taylor turned around. He was back. And why did that make her want to shout for joy, despite her present predicament? Who the heck knew? He still wore his leather jacket, but she noticed through the hole, a white bandage covered his cut. “You had your cut taken care of.”
    “Yeah. So what's wrong with the flip-flops?”
    “She doesn't have money to pay. Her cards are cancelled. She called her bank, and then she said, shit, goddamn it, freaking freak . So I am assuming the bank account is cancelled, too,” the cashier explained.
    Taylor wanted to strangle the woman.
    “How much, Paige?” Bors reached in his back pocket and pulled out his brown leather worn wallet.
    “Oh, no. You are not paying.” She grabbed his arm. “I am not a pauper in need of your help. Here,” she tugged at her elegant ring with a row of alternating blue sapphire baguettes and glistening diamond quartets. The ring was a gift from Jean for her eighteenth birthday. “Take it, Paige, as collateral. I'll get some money and I'll be back.”
    Paige's eyes were huge in awe. “Wow. I would take that if I could. That must have cost a thousand bucks.”
    Taylor wanted to correct her. The ring had cost Jean at least fifteen grand to have it made ... but that would be bragging. “It definitely cost more than a pair of flip-flops.”
    “Sure, but this isn't a pawnshop. There is one around though.”
    “Wear your ring. I don't think of you as a pauper, Teejay.” He took the flip-flops from Taylor's hands, then bent down to help her put them on. “Put these on.”
    “Bors,” she sighed his name.
    “Teejay,” Bors replied with a grin. His warm large hand wrapped around her ankle and caressed it with a command.
    Left with no choice, she slipped her feet into the soft cushion of the flip-flops. “Thanks.” Taylor felt like Cinderella. She would have found the situation romantic if the circumstances were different.
    “Come on.” Bors gave the money to Paige before taking Taylor's arm to lead her outside the pharmacy.
    “I'll pay you back.”
    “Consider it a gift.”
    “Thank you.”
    Bors nodded. “Where are you heading?”
    Good question. Before she left Seattle, she Googled the Orcas Islands. She saw the Oyster Bay Cottage, a private getaway and she hoped the last place Jean would look. Damn it! With her cards cancelled, how could she even stay in a Bates Motel? Jean knew she didn't have anywhere else to go, and by canceling her cards, he expected her to crawl back to his filthy home. Frustrated and feeling helpless, she felt icy fear twist around her heart.
    When she saw the opportunity to escape, she took it without thinking. What was she going to do now? She had nothing except for her purse. Tears welled within her eyes. Before they started flowing like the Niagara Falls, she swallowed back a sob. “Well, thanks for the rescue, Bors. I'll call a friend from here.” She lowered her violin case that seemed to double its weight.
    “You didn't answer my question.”
    “I'm going to my friend's cabin.” I wish.
    “You don't look happy at the prospect. And are those tears?”
    “No. Of course, I am going to see my friend. How about you? Don't you have a place to go? Women to chase?”
    Bors grinned. “That's what I'm doing right now.”
    “Funny.”
    “Your friend is from here?”
    “Here? Yes.”
    “I grew up on this island. I probably know him or