Read Online With Her Last Breath by Cait London - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Cait London
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her.”
“Someone had to.” Her fists were tight now, her color high and her eyes lashing at him.
“It takes a lot of patience to do rescue work. Sometimes the dog is too far gone, but you’ve done a good job.”
“You don’t know anything about it.”
The bitterness was there again, simmering just beneath the surface. “I’m listening. Tell me.”
When Maggie frowned and looked away, Nick knew he’d hit a nerve; he’d come too close to her life and the secrets she wanted to keep. She walked to Scout’s stick, hesitated as ifthe decision came hard to her, then picked it up and threw it into the water. With an excited bark and ready to play, Scout leaped into the lake.
Nick stood still, admiring the woman from the back. Her ball cap had tilted, her ponytail was coated with sand, and the wind pushed her loose jogging pants against her body. He admired the curve of her bottom, and when she turned, he served his best innocent smile. “Looks like she’ll be at that awhile.”
“Don’t you throw another one. She’s my dog. If she needs something, I’ll do it for her.”
“Fine.” Nick settled down on the sand and watched Maggie kick off her jogging shoes, dump the sand from them, and then peel off her socks. She stuffed them into her shoes and began rolling up her pants.
He wondered how those slender pale feet would feel on his calves, bracing as her hips lifted in lovemaking.
He sighed roughly. It had been a long time since he’d made love.
Maggie glanced at him, anger simmering around her. “Don’t you have something to do?”
He could have watched her forever. Maybe it was his fate to meet a foul-tempered woman with witch’s eyes and fire in her hair, and to want to take her, right there on the sand, and never let her go.
And maybe bottling wine and working at the restaurant for fourteen-hour days had made him a little crazy. Maybe it was that he needed a woman’s body again, his own coming to life, shocking him. “Not really. It’s not often that I meet a real mystery woman and want to know everything about her. But then, I’d just be wasting my time if I were to ask more questions, right? You must love wallowing in your own secrecy, making people wonder about you. Maybe it’s a game with you.”
“It is not a game. You’re prodding and pushing. Try someone else. It’s my life and my business, not yours.”
Nick’s easy patience said he could outlast Maggie’s walls,and he deliberately nudged her. “Well, then, maybe you’re just a moody woman and this is the wrong time. If there is a right time, I’m available. Something has happened to you that’s made you distrustful of everyone. I’d say you need someone to listen—unless you just like being a sourpuss.”
Maggie’s dark look at him and her silence, those lips firmly pressed together, ended any further conversation.
After several more runs, Scout began to tire. She carried the stick not to Maggie this time, but to Nick, where she did her dog-shaking-water thing. Scout plopped onto the sand beside him and stared at the lake.
“Let’s go, Scout,” Maggie said as she picked up her shoes and began carrying them toward the path up to Nick’s house.
The dog remained, tongue hanging down as she panted beside Nick, a new friend.
With a tired sigh, Maggie returned to sit on the other side of her dog. “Whenever you’re ready, Scout, just let me know.”
With the dog between them, Nick and Maggie settled into silence and peace. Nick liked the feel of that, the feel of the wind, telling him that he was alive, the sense of peace that water always brought, and the sense that something was happening with this woman. Maybe he was just a romantic, but the odd inner calm told him his life had changed and that something waited for him—with Maggie.
“That’s a strange house,” she said, her voice flowing over the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. “With that brick tower on top.”
That was something, Nick
“Someone had to.” Her fists were tight now, her color high and her eyes lashing at him.
“It takes a lot of patience to do rescue work. Sometimes the dog is too far gone, but you’ve done a good job.”
“You don’t know anything about it.”
The bitterness was there again, simmering just beneath the surface. “I’m listening. Tell me.”
When Maggie frowned and looked away, Nick knew he’d hit a nerve; he’d come too close to her life and the secrets she wanted to keep. She walked to Scout’s stick, hesitated as ifthe decision came hard to her, then picked it up and threw it into the water. With an excited bark and ready to play, Scout leaped into the lake.
Nick stood still, admiring the woman from the back. Her ball cap had tilted, her ponytail was coated with sand, and the wind pushed her loose jogging pants against her body. He admired the curve of her bottom, and when she turned, he served his best innocent smile. “Looks like she’ll be at that awhile.”
“Don’t you throw another one. She’s my dog. If she needs something, I’ll do it for her.”
“Fine.” Nick settled down on the sand and watched Maggie kick off her jogging shoes, dump the sand from them, and then peel off her socks. She stuffed them into her shoes and began rolling up her pants.
He wondered how those slender pale feet would feel on his calves, bracing as her hips lifted in lovemaking.
He sighed roughly. It had been a long time since he’d made love.
Maggie glanced at him, anger simmering around her. “Don’t you have something to do?”
He could have watched her forever. Maybe it was his fate to meet a foul-tempered woman with witch’s eyes and fire in her hair, and to want to take her, right there on the sand, and never let her go.
And maybe bottling wine and working at the restaurant for fourteen-hour days had made him a little crazy. Maybe it was that he needed a woman’s body again, his own coming to life, shocking him. “Not really. It’s not often that I meet a real mystery woman and want to know everything about her. But then, I’d just be wasting my time if I were to ask more questions, right? You must love wallowing in your own secrecy, making people wonder about you. Maybe it’s a game with you.”
“It is not a game. You’re prodding and pushing. Try someone else. It’s my life and my business, not yours.”
Nick’s easy patience said he could outlast Maggie’s walls,and he deliberately nudged her. “Well, then, maybe you’re just a moody woman and this is the wrong time. If there is a right time, I’m available. Something has happened to you that’s made you distrustful of everyone. I’d say you need someone to listen—unless you just like being a sourpuss.”
Maggie’s dark look at him and her silence, those lips firmly pressed together, ended any further conversation.
After several more runs, Scout began to tire. She carried the stick not to Maggie this time, but to Nick, where she did her dog-shaking-water thing. Scout plopped onto the sand beside him and stared at the lake.
“Let’s go, Scout,” Maggie said as she picked up her shoes and began carrying them toward the path up to Nick’s house.
The dog remained, tongue hanging down as she panted beside Nick, a new friend.
With a tired sigh, Maggie returned to sit on the other side of her dog. “Whenever you’re ready, Scout, just let me know.”
With the dog between them, Nick and Maggie settled into silence and peace. Nick liked the feel of that, the feel of the wind, telling him that he was alive, the sense of peace that water always brought, and the sense that something was happening with this woman. Maybe he was just a romantic, but the odd inner calm told him his life had changed and that something waited for him—with Maggie.
“That’s a strange house,” she said, her voice flowing over the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. “With that brick tower on top.”
That was something, Nick
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