Across the Creek Read Online Free PDF Page A

he headed to the staircase leading to his apartment above the shop. He wanted a hot shower to wash off the smell of animals. Then he planned on settling down with a good book and a ham and cheese sandwich before falling asleep.
    The shock of seeing Sarah after ten years still pulled at him. How was that possible? What were the odds? Those long blond curls and crystal blue eyes. She looked so…beautiful.
    Halfway up the stairs he heard a knock at the door. Was it Sarah?
    No; instead his eyes met Kate Ashcroft, waving at him through glass. His shoulders sank. So close yet so far from his bedroom and its promise of peace and quiet. He headed back downstairs, knowing he wasn’t going to get any tonight. Not that he didn’t enjoy the company of a young beautiful woman just as much as any twenty-two-year-old male, but Kate was more than company. She had the energy of a terrier on caffeine.
    From the gleam in her eye and her rapid waving, he knew she had too much energy for him tonight. It was moments like these where he questioned why he ever took her out on their first date. He reminded himself that she was the daughter of Christian Ashcroft, the wealthy Chicago tycoon, and, more importantly, the man who owned this building.
    The door wasn’t halfway open before she said, “Hey there.” She didn’t wait for an invite before nearly knocking him over with a hug.
    “I didn’t know you were coming over tonight.”
    “Is that okay?” she asked, batting her long eyelashes at him. Her soft dark hair hung past her shoulders like a curtain of satin. A perk that came with owning her own hair salon, yet another benefit of being the heir to the Ashcroft fortune. Her long muscular legs looked tempting beneath her silky black skirt. Her white blouse clung to her frame, revealing just enough to turn any man’s head. But her smile, it had the ability to give a man whiplash. And those lips, they were full and very kissable. She definitely had taste, and with nearly unlimited funds, she looked the part of a millionaire’s daughter.
    Jesse ran a hand through his hair, trying to ready himself for the energy required for a night with Kate. “Yeah. Of course it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you is all.”
    Kate took a step back, leaving her hands on his shoulders. “I missed you today.”
    “That’s…sweet,” he said.
    Kate had come into the shop with her father about six months ago while he was making his usual rounds of the businesses he housed. According to him, his visits were to check his tenants and see if they needed anything, but Jesse knew why he really did it. Guys like Christian Ashcroft were rich for a reason. They never seemed to take their eyes off of the gold.
    Maybe it was the long legs that had caused him to ask her out; maybe it was the thought of how it would make her pompous father feel if he ever found out his princess was slumming it; or maybe it was those gorgeous brown eyes and lips that seemed to smile unusually wide for him. Or maybe it was all three. Either way, when she returned the following day without her father’s permission, Jesse had instantly asked her out. They went out that night and the rest was history. Or at least he wished it was.
    “You didn’t miss me?” she asked, pouting.
    He ran a hand through his hair. After their first date, he realized what a mistake he had made hitching his wagon to the daughter of the man who could just as easily kick them out as he could buy them out. He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “It’s just been a busy day. I’m pretty tired.”
    “I know,” she said, running her hand down his chest, igniting a fire he tried to extinguish. “The girls and I were walking past today and I thought about stopping in to make your day. But you looked pretty busy.”
    “Really? You were out this way today? When was that?”
    “Around noon. We were on our way to have lunch at Gigi’s. I saw you through the window.” She pointed over to the window off of