Read Online Shane by Vanessa Devereaux - Free Book Online Page A

locked the car, and headed up to the front door.   She was about to ring the doorbell when Shane
opened it. He had bare feet, wore jeans and a shirt that was unbuttoned. She
wanted to dive right in and kiss his chest.
    “Welcome to Chateau Malone.”
    She stepped inside, immediately spotting a log fire
burning in the fireplace in his living room.   It gave the whole place a cozy feeling. She’d
always loved snuggling up in a chair by one with a book in hand, and hot
chocolate in the other.
    “Can I take your coat?” asked Shane.
    “That would be great.” She took it off and handed it
to him.
    “The pizza’s almost ready.”
    “I can smell it. You make it yourself?” She followed
him through the living room into a room off to the side, and the smell of sauce
with oregano and basil, hit her nose. She took a deep breath.
    “I wish. How about we go eat this by the fire?” he
said pulling it out from the oven.
    “Sounds like heaven to me.”
    “What did you get up to today?” he asked while
cutting the pizza into slices.
    “I didn’t get drunk you’ll be happy to know.”
    She looked up and smiled. He handed her two plates
and napkins. They walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Lacey
kicked off her shoes and lifted the soles of her feet to face the flames. “I
got a job and a place to live.”
    Shane looked at her. “Both in one
day?”
    She nodded. “I had some help from your mom. She is a
sweetheart.”
    “That she is. She know of
someplace?”
    “Yep, her café, and she’s letting me live above it.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “Welcome to Timber Creek,”
he said lifting a slice of pizza.
    She tapped her slice against it.
    “And I’m going to lunch at her place with the rest
of your family on Sunday for your niece’s birthday.”
    “Well, that’s a great way to get thrown in at the
deep end of meeting my brothers.”
    “I already met Flynn.”
    “You’ve really been a busy bee.”
    “That I have. So what did you do?”
    He took a deep breath. “I might not have a hunting
accident on my hands after all.”
    “Really, how come?”
    “You don’t want to hear about it.”
    “I do. I mean I don’t mind hearing about police work,
but if you can’t tell me that’s okay too.”
    He patted her on the knee. “I can’t say much about
it right now.”
    She nodded. “You know I could stay by this fire all
night.”
    “Really?”
    “You’re not going to send me out in the cold are
you, Sheriff?”
    He bit his lip then laughed. “As
if I’d do that with a new resident. What sort of name would I get?”
    Shane ran his hand over her thigh.
    “No dress tonight?” he asked.
    “Too cold.” She
loved the little cleft in his chin. She reached out and touched it. “These are
heredity,” she said.
    “Yeah, all my brothers have them. My dad had one
too.”
    “So how long ago did your dad die?”
    “Twenty-five years.”
    “You must have been still young.”
    “Fifteen.”
    “You know that makes you fifteen years older than
me.”
    “You ever dated an old man before?”
    “No, and is that what we’re going to do?”
    “You want to?”
    Suddenly she didn’t know the answer to that. She
wanted to but what if they got serious? What if the same thing happened? She
knew lightning didn’t strike twice but…
    “I sense some hesitation here. You just like sex and
nothing else or what?”
    She shook her head. “I guess I should come clean and
tell you the reason I left Boston and came looking for some new life miles
away.”
    “Geez, don’t tell me you’re on the run and I
have to take you in.”
    She slapped his knee as he burst out laughing.
    “I was left at the altar.”
    There, the first time she’d told anyone who hadn’t
been there on that awful day.
    “You mean you got dumped?”
    “No, literally stood up at the altar. Me waiting in the room to the side of the church, waiting
and waiting, music playing a few times when we thought it was the groom.” She
shook her