Read Online Rebel Betty by Carla Michaels - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Carla Michaels
Ads: Link
she said, laughter bubbling in her voice. He turned to look at her, and the arousal he saw on her face almost had him returning to her side. Her eyes had turned molten with passion, and there was a blush on her cheek. Or it might have been whisker burns. He’d never seen a woman as lovely and desirable as she appeared at the moment, and he was so aroused that it was agonizing.
“I’m counting on it.”
“I might need to join you,” she teased, and he could feel her eyes on him as he walked past the barns, heading for the field.
Despite the chilly water, it took a long time before his body subsided enough to allow him to work, and his thoughts continued to be distracted by the memories long after he abandoned the site for the day and lay in his bed, trying to read by the illumination of a small overhead lamp. Knowing that she was there, only a few hundred yards away, was an almost irresistible temptation.
As much as he hated to admit it, the social worker had been right to be cautious about him staying at the farm for the summer. The forced intimacy of the situation was playing hell with his better judgment. He should never have kissed her, because having done so, he couldn’t imagine stopping.
Chapter 8
Several days and another rainstorm passed before the work of the excavation actually began.
As he set up the grid, marking off the meter squares that would define his explorations, he continued to dwell on the mystery of his hostess, and he was increasingly sure that there was a mystery. The various facets of it churned through his mind as he took pictures and recorded details of the soil type, vegetation, and elevation on the clipboard he kept close at hand.
First of all, Lara Foster was lovely, possessing the kind of "girl next door" charm that had seduced generations of men. Her beauty was of the earthy, natural sort that needed no artificial augmentation. Perfect skin, lightly tipped by age, wholesome but delicate features, and a body well suited to blissful night spent in bed. Why there was no ring on her finger or guy safely installed in a permanent relationship was odd and intriguing, though he was glad of it.
Mackenzie was certainly part of the reason she did not date, but it could not be the only one. The most likely thing was that she was just coming out of a long term relationship that had left her with emotional baggage and the complication of having a toddler and a looming court date made it easier for her to avoid emotional entanglements.
The other perplexing thing was her history.
Lara loved talking about her family, but never herself. Will, her father, various grandparents who had once peopled the area were often brought up often in conversation, but the few times he had asked about her specifically, she had changed the subject. Not that she was ever rude, and he never had the sense that she was lying to him. Rather, there appeared to be a block of time in her life that she had elected to forget.
And then there was the undeniable fact that Lara was rich.
When he had been conducting research on the area, searching for other mounds, he’d run across plenty of farms like Lara’s, and several of them had been for sale. All had price tags edging towards a million dollars. And the Foster Farm was pristine. No board was out of place, even on the barns and the chicken coop.
All in all an intriguing mystery exactly like the woman herself.
The day had dawned exceptionally hot for the time of year, and after only an hour, he was so covered in sweat that he discarded his collared denim shirt , comfortable to work in his jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt he had purchased at a concert decades before. Not having to worry about what he wore was another added bonus of working his first solitary dig. Normally, he was very conscious of needing to maintain a professional image. The time he had spent in uniform had taught him the power of appearances. But here, alone on the farm, he could strip down and not
“I’m counting on it.”
“I might need to join you,” she teased, and he could feel her eyes on him as he walked past the barns, heading for the field.
Despite the chilly water, it took a long time before his body subsided enough to allow him to work, and his thoughts continued to be distracted by the memories long after he abandoned the site for the day and lay in his bed, trying to read by the illumination of a small overhead lamp. Knowing that she was there, only a few hundred yards away, was an almost irresistible temptation.
As much as he hated to admit it, the social worker had been right to be cautious about him staying at the farm for the summer. The forced intimacy of the situation was playing hell with his better judgment. He should never have kissed her, because having done so, he couldn’t imagine stopping.
Chapter 8
Several days and another rainstorm passed before the work of the excavation actually began.
As he set up the grid, marking off the meter squares that would define his explorations, he continued to dwell on the mystery of his hostess, and he was increasingly sure that there was a mystery. The various facets of it churned through his mind as he took pictures and recorded details of the soil type, vegetation, and elevation on the clipboard he kept close at hand.
First of all, Lara Foster was lovely, possessing the kind of "girl next door" charm that had seduced generations of men. Her beauty was of the earthy, natural sort that needed no artificial augmentation. Perfect skin, lightly tipped by age, wholesome but delicate features, and a body well suited to blissful night spent in bed. Why there was no ring on her finger or guy safely installed in a permanent relationship was odd and intriguing, though he was glad of it.
Mackenzie was certainly part of the reason she did not date, but it could not be the only one. The most likely thing was that she was just coming out of a long term relationship that had left her with emotional baggage and the complication of having a toddler and a looming court date made it easier for her to avoid emotional entanglements.
The other perplexing thing was her history.
Lara loved talking about her family, but never herself. Will, her father, various grandparents who had once peopled the area were often brought up often in conversation, but the few times he had asked about her specifically, she had changed the subject. Not that she was ever rude, and he never had the sense that she was lying to him. Rather, there appeared to be a block of time in her life that she had elected to forget.
And then there was the undeniable fact that Lara was rich.
When he had been conducting research on the area, searching for other mounds, he’d run across plenty of farms like Lara’s, and several of them had been for sale. All had price tags edging towards a million dollars. And the Foster Farm was pristine. No board was out of place, even on the barns and the chicken coop.
All in all an intriguing mystery exactly like the woman herself.
The day had dawned exceptionally hot for the time of year, and after only an hour, he was so covered in sweat that he discarded his collared denim shirt , comfortable to work in his jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt he had purchased at a concert decades before. Not having to worry about what he wore was another added bonus of working his first solitary dig. Normally, he was very conscious of needing to maintain a professional image. The time he had spent in uniform had taught him the power of appearances. But here, alone on the farm, he could strip down and not
Similar Books
