Read Online The Fall of Shane MacKade by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online

up the blood a long time ago.”
    â€œThat’s good to hear.” She cocked her head. “Is there a problem?”
    Yeah, there was a problem. There were a couple of them. The first was that she was flicking him off as if he were a fly. “Regan asked me to cooperate, so I will. For her. But I don’t much care for the idea of you poking around my house looking for ghosts.”
    â€œCertainly you’re not afraid of what I might find.”
    â€œI’m not afraid of anything.” She’d touched a nerve. A raw one. “I said I just don’t like it.”
    â€œWhy don’t we go in, you can offer me a cold drink, and we’ll see if we can come to some sort of compromise?”
    It was hard to argue with reason. He took her hand again, more out of habit than in flirtation. By the time they reached the back door, he’d decided to give flirtation another shot. She smelled damn good, for a scientist.
    He’d never kissed a scientist, he mused. Unless you counted Bess Trulane, the dental hygienist. He had a feeling that cool, sarcastic mouth of Rebecca’s would be quite tasty.
    â€œGot some iced tea,” he offered.
    â€œGreat.” It was all she said as she stood just inside the door, looking around with dark, seeking eyes.
    Something. She was sure there was something here, some sensation just out of reach, blocked, she thought, by that almost overpowering male aura Shane exuded. It clouded things, she thought, annoyed. It certainly clouded the brain.
    But there was something here, amid the scrubbed tiles, the spotless counters, the old but sparkling appliances.
    It was a good-size kitchen, homey, with its glass-fronted cupboards showing the everyday dishes. What she imagined one would call a family kitchen—plenty of elbow room, big wooden table, sturdy chairs with cane seats. The morning paper was still on the table, where he had left it, she supposed, after reading it with his morning coffee.
    There were little pots of green plants on the windowsill. She recognized them by scent, as well as sight. Rosemary, basil, thyme. The man grew herbs in his kitchen. It would have made her smile, if she hadn’t been trying to get beyond him into what the room held for her.
    Shane held two glasses filled with golden tea as he frowned at her. Those eyes of hers were sharp, as alert as a doe’s. And her shoulders, under that oversize jacket, were stiff as boards. It made him nervous, and just a little angry, that she was studying his things and seeing something that he didn’t.
    â€œNever seen a kitchen before?”
    Pasting a cool smile on her face, she turned to him. She needed to be alone here, she decided. A few minutes alone, and maybe she would get beyond that block. “It’s amazingly sexist of me, but I didn’t expect to find it so tidy and organized. You know, the cheerful bachelor, living alone, entertaining willing women and poker buddies.”
    This time he lifted a brow. “I don’t usually entertain them at the same time.” He handed her the glass. “My mother was pretty fierce about keeping the kitchen clean. You eat here, you cook here. It’s like making sure the milk house is sanitized.”
    â€œThe milk house.” It had a charming sound to it. “I’d like to see that next time.”
    â€œCome by about 6:00 a.m., you can see it in operation. Don’t you want to take off that jacket? It’s warm.” And he wanted to see what was under it.
    â€œI’m fine.” She moved to the back window. “Lovely view. All the windows I’ve looked out of since I’ve been here have lovely views. Do you get immune to them?”
    â€œNo. You get proprietary.” To please himself, he skimmed a finger over the back of her neck. She went as still as a stone. “You’ve got pretty hair, Rebecca. At least, what there is of it. Of course, chopped off like this, it shows the line of