Read Online Return to Mystic Lake by Carla Cassidy - Free Book Online Page B

from the table and approached the answering machine. The first message was an offer for a free estimate from a siding company. She erased it and then a female voice filled the room.
    “Marjorie, when are you going to come visit me? It feels like it’s been weeks. Oh, and when you come, bring some of those chocolate almonds that you know I like. I don’t know why you don’t quit that silly job of yours so you’d have more time to take care of things for me. You could easily live on your trust fund—”
    Marjorie stopped the machine and took a moment before she turned back to face Jackson. “No bad guys leaving messages,” she said with obvious forced lightness as she returned to the table.
    “And no trust fund,” he replied softly.
    This time the smile she offered him had no heart behind it. “Stepfather number two managed to get power of attorney over my trust fund and by the time he left my mother there was nothing left.”
    “And your mother isn’t aware of the fact that you have no money except a paycheck?”
    “I’ve tried to keep her protected as much as possible in financial matters. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I’m not exactly the trust-fund-baby type.”
    “But you could have been,” Jackson replied. His stomach twisted with a wave of grief as he saw the residual effects left behind when a con man came to town.
    This time her smile was genuine. “No, I could never spend my days buying shoes and fancy dresses and attending charity events. I knew I wanted to be an FBI agent when I was fairly young. I wanted a life of rules and structure. I like having plans and sticking to them, the mundane tasks of filing reports and interviewing suspects.”
    “But a little spontaneity never hurts. I mean, I’m sure you didn’t expect to be thrown on the floor and shot at tonight,” he replied.
    “I know the unexpected happens on the job, but there’s not much room for spontaneity in my personal life, and that’s the way I like it. And now, let’s firm up our plans for tomorrow.”
    It was nearly one o’clock in the morning by the time they finished talking and Marjorie carried their cups to the sink. She quickly washed them and placed them on a dish drainer and then turned to look at him. “Since it’s so late, why don’t we plan on leaving here around nine in the morning?”
    “Noon sounds better, but I can do nine,” he agreed.
    She looked exhausted. Her face had once again taken on a pale cast, and dark shadows rode the delicate skin just beneath her eyes. Her shoulders no longer held rigid tension but rather slumped slightly with the weight of the long day.
    As they left the kitchen she turned out the lights and he checked the front door to make sure it was locked up tight. Together they started down the hallway.
    “You should find everything you need in the bathroom beneath the sink cabinet,” she said as they paused in front of his bedroom. “If you need anything just let me know. Good night, Jackson.”
    “Good night, Maggie.”
    She turned to head to her own bedroom, and Jackson realized he couldn’t just let her go, not without doing something spontaneous and probably dangerous, as well.
    He called her name, and when she turned back to face him, he didn’t give himself time to think—he certainly didn’t give her a chance to prepare—he simply pulled her into his arms and bent his head to capture her lips with his.
    She stiffened and he braced himself for her hands against his chest, pushing him away, or a knee to the groin that would take him down to the carpeting.
    But as the kiss continued, she melted into him, became soft and pliant as her arms wound around his neck and tangled in the thick hair at the nape of his neck. The hot, sweet taste of her, the feel of her sexy curves in his arms, was so good it was bad. He knew on every level this was a mistake, but he was unable to deny himself this moment with this particular woman.
    She was like nobody else he’d ever kissed before.