Chased by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders): Trish Ryder Read Online Free PDF Page B

remember the rather impressed look in your eyes when you got an eyeful.”
    “You’re incorrigible.”
    “ Encourage me, baby.”
    She smiled and it reached all the way up to her eyes. She had the most incredible hazel eyes, with varying shades of greens and browns. They vividly relayed her emotions, which drove home every scene she acted out. He already knew they also made it hard for her to hide her feelings. He stole another glance, taking in her high cheekbones and slightly pointed chin. She’d put her earbuds in. She’d listened to them on the plane, too. He was dying to know what she listened to. Her hair was tucked behind her ear, revealing a mix of stud and small hoop earrings from the lobe to the very top. She obviously wasn’t as straitlaced as she appeared. She had a perky nose, and he’d noticed that when she was angry, she crinkled it a little, which made her look even cuter.
    He felt a smile tugging at his lips. It had been a long time since he’d felt like smiling. He stole another glance. She was still texting, her thumbs racing over the screen. She was stubborn as the day was long. When he’d tried to carry her luggage, she’d insisted on carrying it herself, and when he’d tried to open the car door for her, she’d pushed past him and opened it. But then she’d been playful on the plane, stealing his snacks and pointing out women who were watching him. She made him want to escape the chaos in his own life. And it wasn’t just because she was gorgeous. Gorgeous women were a dime a dozen in Los Angeles. Maybe it was because she’d given up several days of her time, and though she’d seemed upset yesterday, she hadn’t made any snarky comments about it today. Or maybe it was because she didn’t seem to have a shit storm following her around the way he did. Either way, she was getting to him.
    After driving for ten minutes along the windy road, Boone was ready to head back to the frigging airport. “Are you sure Chuck didn’t send us on a wild-goose chase?”
    Trish was moving to the beat of whatever she was listening to. He pulled an earbud from her ear, ignored her gaping jaw, and stuck it in his ear.
    “REO Speedwagon?” He laughed.
    She yanked it from his hand. “I happen to like them. And Journey, and just about any band from the eighties. Queen. Madonna. Phil Collins.” She pointed to a dirt road. “Look. There’s a house on the hill. I bet that’s it.”
    “I didn’t peg you as a music girl.” Boone turned onto the dirt driveway and followed rutted tire paths through the thick grass and up the hill.
    “I love music. I love all music, really, but nothing beats ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ or ‘Faithfully.’ Oh, wait, maybe ‘Keep on Loving You.’ I do like that. I love Michael Jackson, too.”
    He parked in front of the old clapboard farmhouse and watched her as she shoved her phone into her purse.
    “Stop looking at me. I don’t care if you hate those bands.”
    He didn’t bother to correct her and turned his attention to the house, wondering what else they might have in common.
    The dingy, faded white siding was aged and weathered, with a few slats missing. Overgrown bushes blocked the windows to the left of the front door. Weeds and ivy snaked up the doorframe, reaching like invasive tentacles toward the slightly bowed roof.  
    “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Boone looked at Trish, expecting her to complain, but she was already out the door and heading toward the house. He kissed the kitty’s head and set him on the seat. “Wait here, little buddy.”
    “This is perfect,” Trish said as he stepped from the car. “It’s exactly as I’d imagined it would be.” She was calf deep in grass and didn’t seem to care, surprising him again.
    “It is?”
    She put a hand on her hip and glared at him. “Now I’m positive you haven’t read the whole script, because this house is exactly what I pictured Rick and Delia’s house would look like.”
    He had