Brash Read Online Free PDF Page A

Cavanaugh?”
    Cole looked baffled. “He wanted out of my arms.”
    â€œI don’t give a shit!”
    â€œHe wanted out of here.”
    â€œHe needed to be caught.”
    â€œSays you.” One pale eyebrow jerked up. “Not everything is meant to be caught, Doc.”
    She stared back, shaking her head.
So arrogant
. She didn’t know what Belle saw in him. “That’s you talking. About yourself.”
    â€œAn animal’s an animal, honey.”
    Honey?!?
“This is a stray, Cole.”
    He just stared at her. Unfazed, uninterested.
    â€œHe needed to be fixed,” she continued.
    A slow grin moved over his face. Grace might’ve found it debilitatingly sexy if she wasn’t ready to knock the guy over the head with a tree branch.
    â€œGuys gotta look out for each other,” he said with a shrug.
    That was it. Fuming, she stalked toward him. Didn’t stop until she was a couple of inches from his face. “You think this is funny, Cavanaugh?”
    The smile remained as he stared down at her. He was all sharp angles and full lips, and his eyeswere disquieting. They were the color of obsidian. She’d never seen that color on a human. Cats, sure. But not on a human. His nostrils flared as if taking in her scent. She wondered what he caught. Peach shampoo with a side of hard-core vitriol?
    â€œDo you have any idea how many homeless kittens you just helped create?” she said through tightly gritted teeth.
    His expression changed in an instant. From casual to wary. “No.”
    â€œâ€™Course not. And those kittens are liable to starve, or be eaten by a coyote, or hit by a truck. Or unceremoniously euthanized, if they ever even make it to a shelter, which are in short supply around here.”
    He pulled in a sharp breath, and for the first time Grace saw a thread of understanding cross his features. Or was it regret? Hell, at this point, she’d take either one.
    â€œLook, I’m sorry, okay?” he said. “I’ll help you find him.”
    She shook her head, feeling dispirited. “He’s long gone.”
    â€œWell, we can try. It’s something.”
    â€œPlease don’t pretend you care.”
    â€œI’m not pretending.”
    She looked up at him into those onyx eyes, trying to see the forest for the trees, as her dad used to say. But all she got was a wall.
    His nostrils flared. “Maybe you should tell me why I’m here, Grace.”
    Yeah, maybe.
    They were close. Too close. It was making her a little dizzy. And a little stupid. If he leaned down, even an inch or two. And if she arched up on her toes a little . . .
    Yes. Definitely stupid.
    She stepped back. “Why don’t you come inside.” God, she hated how breathy her voice sounded. Breathy girls didn’t make good decisions. Probably because oxygen wasn’t getting to their brains.
    His brows lowered. “What’s inside?” he asked suspiciously.
    â€œJust want to talk to you.”
    â€œWe can do that out here.”
    â€œJeez. Are you afraid of me or something?”
    â€œKind of,” he admitted wryly. “You sure that restraining order’s been dropped?”
    A touch of a smile curved her lips. “Yes. I took care of it this afternoon.” She turned and headed for the porch steps. “But, you know, if you don’t trust me, you can always use my phone to call and check.”
    â€œI got my own phone, thanks. And just so we’re clear, Doc, I don’t trust you at all.”
    At the top of the steps, Grace turned around. Cole was still standing at the bottom, all tall and wicked and undeniably breath-stealing. Had shemade a huge mistake in asking him here? Trying to work with him instead of against him? Clearly, she had an innate weakness for bad boys. One she’d thought she’d left behind in the dorms half a decade ago. But obviously that attraction to unreliable charm was