Angel Creek Read Online Free PDF Page B

day.
    Dee Swann sat across from him, eating as composedly as if she were alone. Lucas watched her, studying her face. She intrigued him. She didn’t flirt with him the way he was used to women doing, or even seem to be aware that he was a man beyond the simple fact of identification. She was straightforward in her speech and actions, but he thought that calmness just might be a cover for the heat underneath. It was in her eyes, long and green, with banked fires in them.
    At first glance she was plain, but closer examination made him realize it was an impression created by herutilitarian clothing and severe hairstyle; her black hair was pulled back and twisted into a tight knot at her nape. She had an exotic sort of attractiveness, with high cheekbones and a wide, soft mouth, but they weren’t the kind of looks that were blatantly fetching. The heat of sexual arousal began to build in his loins and belly as he watched her eat, dipping daintily into the soup without any indication that she even remembered he was there.
    â€œDon’t you have any other family?” he asked abruptly, determined to make her pay attention to him.
    She shrugged and put down her spoon. “I have cousins, but no one close.”
    â€œWouldn’t they take you in?”
    Those green eyes studied him for a long time before she deigned to answer. “I suppose they would have, if I’d asked. I preferred to stay here.”
    â€œWhy? It has to be lonesome for you, as well as dangerous.”
    â€œI have the shotgun,” she reminded him. “And no, I’m not lonesome. I like it out here.”
    â€œI suppose you have plenty of men friends.” How could she not have? A young, attractive woman, alone at that, would attract all sorts of attention.
    She laughed. It wasn’t a maidenly giggle, but the full-throated sound of a woman who knew how to enjoy herself. “Not since they learned I know how to hit what I aim at. After I peppered a few, the others decided to leave me alone.”
    â€œWhy did you do that? You might have been married by now.” Her laughter made the heat intensify. Whatever her reason, he was glad she hadn’tmarried, because he’d always made it a point to stay away from other men’s wives even when the wives in question were willing.
    â€œOh, I’ve had some marriage proposals, Mr. Cochran. Three, I think. I’m not married because I don’t want to be. I don’t plan on ever getting married.”
    In his experience, all women wanted to get married. He sipped his coffee and eyed her over the rim of the cup. “If you got married, you’d have a man to do the work around here.”
    â€œI can handle the work just fine. And if I got married, it wouldn’t be my land any longer, it would be his. I’d rather be my own woman.”
    They were sitting alone in her cozy cabin eating food she had prepared. The conversation had without effort become far more personal than it ever should have been on first meeting. An aura of intimacy wrapped them, making him think of reaching out for her and drawing her onto his knee, the way he would if she were his woman. It was a fantasy, though, because her composed green gaze invited nothing more than conversation. It irritated him, because he was used to women paying him more attention than that. Even Olivia, with her perfect manners and composure, responded to him in the way he expected.
    It was probably the last thing Dee Swann intended, but her disinterest provoked the opposite reaction in him. Lucas had always enjoyed a challenge, and she was certainly that; any woman who used a shotgun to discourage suitors was bound to keep him on his toes. Maybe she didn’t need a man to work her land, but a woman sure needed a man to take care of her otherneeds. It was fine with him that she didn’t want to get married, because she wasn’t the type of woman he would ever select to be his wife. Dee would,