Batteries Not Required Read Online Free PDF Page A

Tristan’s voice. I knew without looking that he was in the doorway.
    I wasn’t planning to turn around, but I did. Hadn’t planned on letting an old boyfriend screw me on a pool table, either. Did that, too.
    Tristan was leaning against the door jamb, just as I’d imagined, rumple-haired and too damned attractive, even then. “I’m sorry,” he said.
    I stared at him. I’d expected something else, I don’t know what. Mockery, maybe. More seduction. But certainly not an apology.
    â€œI shouldn’t have mentioned your boyfriend.”
    I almost defended Bob, before I remembered he was a vibrator. “You proved you could still make me lose control. Let’s leave it at that, okay.”
    â€œIs he going to be mad?”
    I suddenly saw the humor in the situation, even though I knew there were fresh tears on my face. “There’ll be a buzz,” I said.
    Tristan looked confused, which was fine by me. “You’re planning to tell him?”
    I nodded. I was on a roll. “He’ll be rigid about it.”
    â€œDid it ever occur to you that he might not be the right man for you, if it was that easy to get hot with me?”
    So much for nonviolence. I would have slapped him again if he hadn’t been well out of reach. “Maybe it’s not a great relationship,” I said, “but at least Bob doesn’t cheat on me.”
    Tristan shoved a hand through his hair, and his jawline hardened. But, then, he wasn’t in on the joke. “No, but you cheat on him. Some things never change.”
    I tightened my fists. “No,” I snapped. “Some things never do.”
    With that, I headed for the rocky beach that runs along the edge of the lake. I was both relieved and disappointed that Tristan didn’t follow.
    The motel was a half-mile hike, but I was so distracted that I hardly noticed. Fortunately, the Fun Family had left the swimming area, so I didn’t have to worry about anybody seeing me with my hair messed up and my eyes puffy from crying furious tears.
    I pulled my key from the hip pocket of my jeans, let myself into the room, and immediately took another shower.
    I wanted to hibernate, but the Big Mac had worn off, and I knew the Lakeside didn’t offer room service. I dressed carefully in the only other set of clothes I had, besides the prim business suit I planned to wear to the meeting with the other owners of the Bronco and the new buyers, a cotton sundress. I’d briefly scanned the papers, and knew the gathering was scheduled for ten the next morning; I would worry about the where part later.
    Determined to restore some semblance of dignity, I put on makeup, styled my hair, and left the motel again.
    There was still only one restaurant in Parable, a hole-in-the-wall diner on Main Street, across from the library. I had to pause on the sidewalk out front and brace myself to go in.
    I was the girl who had done Tristan McCullough wrong, and I knew the locals remembered. By now, some of them might even know that I’d just done a pool-table mambo with the golden boy, though I didn’t think Tristan would stoop so low as to screw and tell. Just the same, I’d be lucky if they didn’t throw me out bodily.
    I was starved, and the only other place I could get food was the supermarket. That would mean going back to the motel for my rental car, shopping for cold cuts and chips, and huddling in my room to eat.
    No way I had the strength to do all that.
    I needed protein. Immediately.
    So I forced myself to go in.
    The diner hadn’t changed much since the last time I’d been there. Red vinyl booths, a long counter, a revolving pie case. There was no hostess, and all the tables were full.
    I took a stool at the counter and reached for a menu. I could feel people staring at me, but I pretended I had the restaurant to myself. Oh, I was a cool one, all right. Unless you counted a tendency to boink Tristan