Read Online One True Love by Barbara Freethy - Free Book Online

she’d come into his life, with her gentle grace, her soft lips, her stubborn chin and a body he couldn’t stop touching. At twenty, she had been his fantasy.
    At twenty-five she had been his nightmare.
    “What the hell is going on?” Nick demanded, retreating into anger. He knew how to fight with Lisa. He couldn’t remember how to like her, how to love her.
    Lisa stiffened. “Excuse me I get a frantic call from my niece saying her mother has taken off and you’re in trouble.”
    She put her hands on her hips. The light of battle entered her eyes.
    “I’m not in trouble, and Maggie has just gone away for the weekend.”
    “Then why did Roxy call me?”
    “Mary Bea was a little upset, but she’s fine now. We’re all fine. You can go home.” She started to close the door, but Nick stuck his foot out.
    “Not so fast. I think I’ll come in and talk to the kids if you don’t mind.”
    “And if I do?”
    “Tough.”
    “Nick—”
    He brushed past her. “Roxy, Dylan, Mary Bea?” he shouted.
    The kids came running from every direction–Dylan from the kitchen, Roxy and Mary Bea down the stairs. They threw themselves into their uncle’s outstretched arms, their eyes beaming with happiness.
    Lisa couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous at the sight. They loved him. They wanted him—not her. Of course, why would they want her?
    They didn’t even know her. It was her fault that she was practically a stranger, but that didn’t make it easier to take.
    “Are you going to stay with us, Uncle Nick?” Dylan asked. “We could play Sega. I got a cool new game.”
    “Uh, well, it looks like you already have someone to watch you,” Nick said, not even glancing in Lisa’s direction. “Where did your mom go?”
    “She got mad and left,” Roxy said. “We don’t know when she’s coming back.”
    “She’s coming back Sunday,” Lisa interrupted.
    “I don’t think she is coming back,” Mary Bea said, her face turning sad once again. “She said we were driving her crazy.”
    “Don’t cry, please don’t cry,” Lisa begged.”I can’t help it,” Mary Bea said with a hiccup. “I want my mommy.” Her words ended with a wail.
    “Everything’s fine, huh?” Nick ran his hand through Mary Bea’s tangled blond curls. “It’s okay, pumpkin. Uncle Nick is here.” He cocked his head to one side. “What’s that sound?”
    Lisa was so distracted by the gentle way he soothed Mary Bea that she couldn’t hear anything but the pounding of her own heart.
    “It sounds like someone is taking a shower,” Dylan said.
    Roxy clapped a hand to her mouth. “The tub.”
    Lisa beat Roxy up the stairs, only to find water splashing over the top of the tub, covering the bathroom floor and soaking into the hall carpet. In her rush to turn off the faucet, she slid, landing on her buttocks and slamming her big toe into the tub, which sent a rush of pain up her leg. The water soaked through her skirt in seconds. By the time she had righted herself and reached for the faucet, she was sopping wet.
    When she turned around, she stared into four sets of amazed eyes. She felt embarrassed, like she’d just walked naked into the middle of an intersection. “It’s all right,” she mumbled. “I’ll clean it up. It will be okay.”
    A loud, shrill, beeping noise suddenly rang through the house.
    “Oh, my God, that’s the smoke alarm,” Lisa said.
    “The popcorn,” Dylan cried.
    This time Nick led the rush down the stairs and into the kitchen, where kernels of corn were turning black in a sizzling frying pan. Nick turned off the burner and pushed the pan away from the heat.
    “You’ve got everything under control, huh?” Nick asked again.
    “I thought he was putting a bag in the microwave,” Lisa explained, her damp skirt clinging to her legs with a coolness that sent a shiver down her spine. She hated the way Nick looked at her, like she was a failure, like she couldn’t do anything right, although she shouldn’t have