Read Online You're Still the One by Annabel Jacobs - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Annabel Jacobs
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living room and walked toward the sliding patio doors. He had grilled chicken and vegetables for dinner; she's cleaned up afterward. And thirty minutes ago, he'd invited her outside, but she'd thought it would be more prudent to stay inside. Away from him.
She hadn't been able to stop thinking about that kiss at her house. It had completely ambushed her senses. And unleashed the curiosity that had been hammering at her since seeing him this morning.
Rick's finding that tracking device had convinced Katie that her sister was in danger, no matter what he said. She'd gotten a chuckle out of his putting it on the police cruiser. He was still so darn cute. Which she didn't need to be thinking about, either.
Still, if they were going to be stuck together, she wanted to know how he'd gotten back to Oklahoma City. It had unsettled her to learn that they lived within five miles of each other and she hadn't known it.
Finally, prodded by the curiosity she'd been trying all day to deny, she stepped through the sliding glass doors onto the patio and closed the door behind her.
Flagstone tile in variegated shades of cream and terracotta formed a far-reaching patio and framed a small rectangular pool. Potted plants in oversize ceramic planters guarded each corner. Bunches of petunias, begonias and other annuals spilled against a tall wooden privacy fence. A six-foot-wide border of grass edged the fence and butted up against the tile. The pool, covered with a blue tarp, waited to be filled with the first water of summer. Last week's Memorial Day had surely been hot enough for swimmers.
Light from inside the house washed across the tile, shimmered off the cushioned lounge chairs around the pool. It was a perfect early summer night, growing cooler as the darkness swallowed the last of the sun. The stars burned bright in a velvet sky. Moonlight skittered across the patio, danced with the darkness. Katie squinted into the shadows.
"Over here."
Rick's smoothly dark voice came from behind her and sent a shiver over her skin. She turned, rubbing her arms. She attributed the tightening of her belly to a sudden breeze, not the delicious timbre of his voice.
About ten feet to her right, she saw the silhouette of his upper body. The muted glow of house lights behind him played against his raven hair. Broad shoulders, seemingly carved from the night, rose from the water of a hot tub. Steam curled around him, and as her hers adjusted, she saw he had leaned back against the wall of the hot tub, arms spread on either side, waiting, watching. Aggressive, male primally appealing. He was familiar, and yet not. Her knowledge of the boy bumped into the mystery of the man.
She swallowed against the purely feminine flutter in her stomach and squashed the urge to scurry back into the house.
"If you want to join me, there's an extra suit over there." He inclined his head toward a storage closet partially visible in the shadowed alcove behind him, which also housed a grilled and picnic table. His teeth flashed white in the darkness. "Or you can go without. I won't be offended."
To cover the sudden dip in her stomach, she retorted, "Yeah, that's why I came out here. To get naked with you."
He chuckled, and she found herself smiling. He was over there; she was over here. She was safe.
Still, that kiss from this afternoon was fresh in her mind, and the feel of that lean hard body against hers had opened the floodgate on memories that were better ignored.
"You sure you don't want to join me?"
"Yes," she murmured, wondering what he
She hadn't been able to stop thinking about that kiss at her house. It had completely ambushed her senses. And unleashed the curiosity that had been hammering at her since seeing him this morning.
Rick's finding that tracking device had convinced Katie that her sister was in danger, no matter what he said. She'd gotten a chuckle out of his putting it on the police cruiser. He was still so darn cute. Which she didn't need to be thinking about, either.
Still, if they were going to be stuck together, she wanted to know how he'd gotten back to Oklahoma City. It had unsettled her to learn that they lived within five miles of each other and she hadn't known it.
Finally, prodded by the curiosity she'd been trying all day to deny, she stepped through the sliding glass doors onto the patio and closed the door behind her.
Flagstone tile in variegated shades of cream and terracotta formed a far-reaching patio and framed a small rectangular pool. Potted plants in oversize ceramic planters guarded each corner. Bunches of petunias, begonias and other annuals spilled against a tall wooden privacy fence. A six-foot-wide border of grass edged the fence and butted up against the tile. The pool, covered with a blue tarp, waited to be filled with the first water of summer. Last week's Memorial Day had surely been hot enough for swimmers.
Light from inside the house washed across the tile, shimmered off the cushioned lounge chairs around the pool. It was a perfect early summer night, growing cooler as the darkness swallowed the last of the sun. The stars burned bright in a velvet sky. Moonlight skittered across the patio, danced with the darkness. Katie squinted into the shadows.
"Over here."
Rick's smoothly dark voice came from behind her and sent a shiver over her skin. She turned, rubbing her arms. She attributed the tightening of her belly to a sudden breeze, not the delicious timbre of his voice.
About ten feet to her right, she saw the silhouette of his upper body. The muted glow of house lights behind him played against his raven hair. Broad shoulders, seemingly carved from the night, rose from the water of a hot tub. Steam curled around him, and as her hers adjusted, she saw he had leaned back against the wall of the hot tub, arms spread on either side, waiting, watching. Aggressive, male primally appealing. He was familiar, and yet not. Her knowledge of the boy bumped into the mystery of the man.
She swallowed against the purely feminine flutter in her stomach and squashed the urge to scurry back into the house.
"If you want to join me, there's an extra suit over there." He inclined his head toward a storage closet partially visible in the shadowed alcove behind him, which also housed a grilled and picnic table. His teeth flashed white in the darkness. "Or you can go without. I won't be offended."
To cover the sudden dip in her stomach, she retorted, "Yeah, that's why I came out here. To get naked with you."
He chuckled, and she found herself smiling. He was over there; she was over here. She was safe.
Still, that kiss from this afternoon was fresh in her mind, and the feel of that lean hard body against hers had opened the floodgate on memories that were better ignored.
"You sure you don't want to join me?"
"Yes," she murmured, wondering what he
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