Broken Creek (The Creek #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

me. He got out slowly and sauntered up to my open door.
    “I wondered how long it would take before I ran into you.” His sheepish grin emitted through tanned skin.
    “Hello to you too.”
    “Sorry, how are you, Wrenn?” He touched my cheek with one finger. The smell of cigarettes overshadowed the way my nerves heightened at his slightest touch.
    “Up to my ass in alligators.” I got out of the car.
    “That deep, huh? Can I help?”
    “Dealing with you would be like playing cards with the devil.”
    “Suit yourself. I gotta go. Good seein’ ya.” He turned and took several long steps back to his truck. I got a view of his nice ass in his starched Cinch jeans.
    “Wait. Yes, I need your help and any muscle you can wrangle to come with you.” I posed with my hands on my hips as the wind swooshed my hair around like I was in the center of a vortex. “Look, I’m desperate, and I need some help on our place. Mom can’t do it and…”
    He turned to face me with a sweet smile. “Just stop.” He raised his right hand in the air and approached me, until there was only about a foot of space between us. “Look, I know there’s work to be done out there, and if I know you, you’ve made a list.”
    “I have. Can we discuss it?”
    “I’ll be over in an hour.” He turned and walked back to his truck.
    I yelled out to him, “Thanks, Stephan.”
    “Anything for you, doll,” he yelled back over his shoulder.

    Waiting made me nervous, and I paced. Before that day, I’d avoided Stephan for a long time, and even though I didn’t have feelings for him any longer, I remembered some of our better times. He was the only man I’d been intimate with. It had taken me forever to decide that giving up that part of me was a good decision, and afterwards, I realized he wasn’t the one, and I’d made a rotten choice. However I came to that bad decision, I’ll never know.
    Right on time, the snake slithered up my drive in his tall, Chevy truck. I guess you could say I was dancing with the devil, or maybe, I was just playing the cards I was dealt. Either way, I didn’t feel good regarding what I was about to do, but I thought I had no other choice.
    I opened the door to the front porch and let him in.
    “Don’t you look like a beautiful ray of sunshine on a cold day,” he soothed. When he reached out to pull me into his arms, I recoiled.
    “Not happening. This is business, strictly business, or you can go.” My hands were on my hips, and my shoulders were tall and firm.
    “Fine,” his right hand in the air—once more. “What’s this mission I’ve so easily gotten myself into?”
    “I need manpower to fix the bridge. It’s about to go. I’ve got the lumber in the barn, just need a price for labor, and it has to be done this week, since it’s our one good shot at warmer weather before I go back to school. Also, I need to preferably borrow a brush hog and tractor, since ours is beyond repair. Do you know anyone who could let me borrow one and would be willing to bring it out? And lastly, I need to sell the back acres, and I’ve put out an ad to lease the front.”
    Stephan’s eyes searched mine. I saw sheer concern on his face. “What’s going on? Your mom would never sell that creek back there.”
    “We don’t have a choice. I’m in school with little money, and this place is broken—going down fast. I’m hoping I can get someone to lease the land for cattle.”
    “Who’s gonna fix fences and do the upkeep? Have you thought that far?”
    “No.”
    “You can’t take care of this place from Texas, Wrenn.”
    “Don’t you think I know that, asshole?”
    “I’m here to help you, and you’re already calling me names. Forget it.” The screech of his chair across the wood floor sent a chill down my spine.
    Stephan walked to the door, and I lock in on his tight jeans and pressed shirt. He always was a sight for any girl’s eyes, especially with his blond curly hair and green eyes.
    “I’m sorry.