Read Online The Bobcat's Tate by Georgette St. Clair - Free Book Online

pound on me, and I’d never choose a neckline this low.” But she realized that the voice in her head that wanted to say those things sounded exactly like her mother.
    “So, ahh…how many brothers and sisters do you have?” she asked.
    “ There are twelve of us, altogether. I’m the oldest. A few of my sisters and brothers are moved out, married or in college. My brother Kyle, he’s the one you saw yesterday, works with me, running the landscaping business. My eighteen-year-old sister Megan still lives at home. She’s going to community college and she works with me part time. The six younger ones are Schuyler, she’s ten, Valerie, she’s nine, Ashley, she’s eight, Robin and Richard, they’re six, and Felix, he’s four. How about you? Brothers and sisters?”
    “One brother, a year older than me . A little bit of a black sheep in the past, but he’s gotten his act together now and he’s doing great.”
    She hesitated. This was the getting-to-know-each-other conversation, the conversation she couldn’t have because she’d just have to lie to him.
    Life was so unfair . This man was hotter than the sun, and he actually seemed genuinely attracted to her, and she had to admit that ever since she’d laid eyes on him she’d been thinking about him constantly. But she was a visitor in town under a fake name, hiding out from the world’s most manipulative parents and nursing a broken heart. Why start something that she could never finish?
    He opened his mouth to speak. He was about to ask her more about herself, where she was from, what she did for a living, questions she couldn’t answer.
    Before he could, though, a teenager trotted up to him, looking flustered. She was a pretty girl with glossy blonde hair that swept past her shoulders, wearing tight, faded jeans and a big T-shirt which said Calloway Landscaping .
    Tate turned to her with a l ow growl. “Megan, you were supposed to be watching the kids.”
    “Schuyler said she could do it .”
    “Felix ran up a tree and literally nearly broke his neck.” Tate’ s brows drew together in a scowl. “If you say you’re watching the kids, you need to either do so or hand them over to another adult.”
    Megan went pale. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
    “What were you doing that was so important you needed to dump your family?” He peered at her more closely. “Is your lip gloss smeared? I swear to God, if you’ve been anywhere near that Sinclair boy—”
    “I haven’t!” Megan’s voice went high, angry and defensive . Lainey felt a twinge of sympathy. She could understand why Tate was protective of his sister, but she also knew what it was to cringe under the lash of family criticism.
    “I’m Kat ,” she said brightly, striding forward and thrusting her hand out.
    “Megan,” the girl muttered. “Pleased to meet you. If you’re going to date my brother, you should talk to me first. I could tell you a few things about him…like he’s a total control freak over-reacting asswipe.”
    “Date? What?” Lainey’s mouth fell open.
    “Excuse you? Language.” Tate looked outraged.
    “See what I mean?” Megan complained . “I’m eighteen, and he talks to me like I’m five. Do you have any idea what it’s like working with your family?”
    “Unfortunately, yes,” Lainey laughed. “It’s awful, isn’t it?”
    “The absolute worst,” Megan agreed fervently, while Tate let out an indignant growl.
    Megan looked Lainey up and down. Lainey had been getting a lot of that lately. “It wouldn’t be such a bad thing if Tate started dating. God knows he hasn’t gotten any in ages. Maybe if he did, he wouldn’t be such a crabby jerkwad all the time.”
    Tate’s chest swelled with indignation, and it looked as if he were about to tear a strip off Megan’s head. Before he could, , they heard the kids yelling from the direction of the house. “Tate! Tate! Come here!” The kids definitely sounded alarmed about