A Daring Vow (Vows) Read Online Free PDF

When do I have to decide?”
    “There’s no rush, but the sooner we get things rolling, the better, if you decide you want to sell.”
    She couldn’t miss the hopeful note in his voice. She knew in that instant that Taylor Matthews wanted her as far away from Port William as it was humanly possible for her to get.
    Perversely, that was all it took to make her want to stay.

Chapter Three
    W ord spread faster than a brushfire that Zelda Lane was back in town. There was some subdued whooping and rejoicing over coffee at Sarah Lynn’s the morning after her arrival, mostly from men who recalled her daredevil nature, flaming red hair and statuesque proportions. Some of them were the same men Taylor had once warned rather emphatically to steer clear of her.
    Now he shook his head just listening to them. A part of him wished he could say what he was thinking and feeling so easily. Hell, he didn’t even know exactly what he was feeling. Guilt was probably part of it, guilt over treating her so shabbily. Anger that he’d let her get away?
    No, damn it. Anger would imply caring, and he refused to admit how much he’d cared and how foolishly he’d tossed it all aside. Besides, emotions were costly. He’d learned that the hard way. Emotions were something he hadn’t allowed himself for a very long time.
    He found himself wondering how Zelda would react to all the attention. For a woman who claimed to want her presence to go unnoticed, she certainly hadn’t done much to assure it. That red convertible she’d rented stuck out like a sore thumb among the standard gray sedans and pickups of most of Port William’s residents. Yet he couldn’t help thinking it was typically Zelda, flashy, sexy as the dickens and definitely inappropriate for a woman in mourning. The general consensus around him seemed to be that Zelda probably hadn’t changed one whit.
    Taylor had to agree. The woman he’d seen the day before had been dressed with no regard to fashion sense or propriety. There might have been yards and yards of that orange and yellow fabric, but it had draped and clung in a way that had tantalized. Her earthy sensuality had simmered just below the surface, even as she sedately offered him some of that tepid tea. There’d been a defiant spark in those turquoise eyes of hers that offered up a ready challenge. And yet he’d sensed that under it all the vulnerability that had once touched his heart was still there. He’d also known that she would have denied it vehemently.
    As he recalled his gut-level reaction to just being in the same room with her again, he caught the speculative glances cast in his direction. The conversation around him swirled on, with Zelda very much at the center of it. He felt as if battery acid were pitching in his stomach. Maybe it was no more than the caffeine he’d consumed during a long and restless night, but he doubted it. Chances were he could blame it all on seeing Zelda again.
    He’d hoped—no, he’d prayed—that he’d be immune to her, that he’d walk into that house, take one look at her and wonder how she’d ever been able to tie him in knots. Instead his pulse had reacted as if she’d been buck naked and pleading for his touch, when all she’d done was stand there prim and proper and offer him tea. It just proved that time and common sense were no match for wayward hormones.
    Oh, well, he’d done his duty, he consoled himself. There was no need for him to be in the same room with her again, at least not for longer than it took to sign a document or two. Despite the uncertainty she’d expressed, he’d been able to tell from her panicked expression and the desperate look she’d cast around that awful house that she would hightail it back to her exciting life in Los Angeles the first chance she got. Temptation would depart with her.
    At that prospect, he uttered a heartfelt sigh of relief and finished his coffee. Before he could set down the cup, Sarah Lynn bustled over with a