Read Online No Turning Back by Helenkay Dimon - Free Book Online Page B

convince him to leave and take his brothers with him. She needed that not just to get the house back, but to remove Declan from the county before she lost her mind.
    She’d spent hours last night thinking about kissing him. Remembering the ease with which he stepped in and pumped her gas. It was something so unimportant yet it stuck in her head. Not controlling, not jerky, just kind of . . . sweet.
    She let out a long groan. Man, he could not be sweet. The combination of sweet and sexy would crack the last of her control. She needed to be strong and professional. To set ground rules and then follow them.
    Mostly, she needed to win this round or she risked losing everything.

Chapter Six
    “What did you just say?” Beck’s head shot up as he poured his coffee the next morning.
    The reaction said it all. It’s not like Declan didn’t know meeting with Leah again was a mistake. He’d spent a restless night thinking about her and not wanting to. He finally got out of bed just after five, half ticked off that he imagined what she looked like under her brightly colored shirts every time he closed his eyes.
    But he had bigger problems at the moment. Like a potential run to the hospital for a second degree burn. He nodded at the pot in Beck’s hand and the coffee filled right to the rim. “Want to watch what you’re doing there?”
    Beck jumped as the coffee sloshed over the side. “Shit.”
    “Exactly.”
    He slammed the pot on the square kitchen island hard enough to shatter the glass. It was a miracle the thing stayed in one piece. With his palms braced against the wood block, Beck eyed Declan where he sat on the stool on the other side. “Repeat your comment about the Baron woman.”
    No thanks
. “Leah and it doesn’t matter.”
    “You brought it up.” Beck stood up again. “So, start at the beginning and explain exactly when you lost your mind. It will make the paperwork easier for when I put you away, and right now that’s tempting.”
    Since Beck had slipped into interrogator lawyer mode, Declan gave up on changing the topic. “I said I have a meeting with Leah tonight.”
    “A date, like we talked about last night?”
    “No, this is business.”
    “But you knew about this last night when we talked.”
    Declan wanted to ignore that part, so he did. “We’re getting off track. This is a meeting, not a date.”
    “For God’s sake, why?”
    Declan turned his phone end over end, tapping it against the wood. “Pure male idiocy, as far as I can tell.”
    “I’m saying it’s a date.”
    “I don’t care what you call it.”
    “Just so I know, do you always get a hard-on for women who hate you?” Beck snapped the towel off the faucet behind him and switched to clean-up, wiping up the spill and dropping the dirty towel in a ball on the edge of the island in one continuous move. “Because there’s probably medication for that.”
    Other than a good kick in the ass as a reminder to stay away from Leah, Declan didn’t know what he needed. “She wants us to make an offer to buy us out.”
    “Since when?”
    “That’s what she said.”
    “Interesting how you forgot to mention that–all of this, actually–yesterday.”
    “I was still thinking it through.” Not a total lie, in Declan’s view.
    “Uh-huh. Did she give you a number?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Is that what you two were talking about the other night in the yard, or was this during some other meeting I don’t know about?” Beck picked up his mug and stared at Declan over the rim.
    The punch of surprise had Declan juggling the phone until it bounced off his palm and clanked against the counter. “Whoa.”
    “Smooth.”
    “You saw that talk?” He had to swallow twice to get the words out.
    Beck leaned against the farmhouse sink. “And the stupid grin on your face when you came back inside. I thought about asking for details then decided I didn’t want to know. Wanted to see if you’d tell me, which you didn’t. Nice brotherly