Darkling I Listen Read Online Free PDF Page B

trickling down her cheek. For an infinitesimal second something that felt annoyingly like respect flickered in his chest.
    "Take her in," he repeated, as sweet and slow as molasses. "I'll be down later to press charges."
    "You creep!" she cried. Cornwall holstered his gun and reached for her arm. She snatched it away, her gaze still fixed on Brandon as he joined Betty, and on Henry, who continued to munch on his sandwich and regard the interloper with an amused smile. "Arrogant bull. Fine. Be that way. You don't deserve me, anyway. Take your hands off me," she snapped at the officer, "or I'll see you brought up on charges of police brutality!"
    Cornwall , who perpetually looked borderline skittish, took a quick step back and adjusted the gun on his hip.
    "You're making a mistake," she declared, moving toward the cruiser, her gaze never faltering even as she tripped over a tree root and nearly dropped her camera. "I came here to help you. Don't stand there looking all full of yourself and tell me you don't need my help. If you weren't terrified of what the world thinks of you, you wouldn't be hiding away in this Twilight Zone of a town. At least give me a chance to explain!"
    Cornwall opened the cruiser door for her, placed his hand on top of her head, and eased her down into the seat. She stared through the window at Brandon , her eyes big, her mouth petulant. He turned his back on her and walked off.
    *
    Charlotte Minger crammed three sticks of Big Red chewing gum into her mouth and tossed the silver wrappers onto Wal-Mart's glistening floor, grinning to herself. Cy Ricky Wheeler was responsible for floor maintenance. Might as well give him something to occupy his time instead of hitting on her every chance he got. As if she'd go out with him! Just the thought of it gave her the willies. He looked like a cross between Ichabod Crane and Jimmy Cricket. And he smelled like Clearasil and B.O. As the recently crowned Miss Yamboree, she had her reputation to consider.
    There was precious little left worth buying on the fifty-percent-off rack, she noted. Mostly summer stuff that the Goodwill would turn away. She didn't want to have to drive into town and poke around Patsy's Dress Shop. Patsy Crumm charged too much just because she had the only decent ladies' apparel shop in Ticky Creek. Besides, Charlotte got a fifteen percent employee discount if she bought at Wal-Mart.
    Then again, it wasn't every night that a girl had a date with Brandon Carlyle. In fact, as far as she knew, no one in Ticky Creek had managed to pin down the elusive hunk. He barely spoke to people, much less took them out for a burger at the Dairy Queen. She surmised that if she impressed him enough, on their next date he might take her to Tyler for Mexican food. Good plan. If the press caught wind of it and reporters just happened to be at the restaurant when they arrived, she'd get her photograph plastered in every magazine and tabloid in the country. She'd be famous overnight. The National Enquirer and the Galaxy Gazette would pay her a fortune to tell her story. Maybe Lifetime Network would make a movie about how she won and rehabilitated Brandon Carlyle's heart.
    "Hey, Charlotte ."
    Charlotte looked around, into Cy Ricky's bumpy red face. "Hey," she replied, and turned back to the rack, removing a cropped western shirt with fringe on the hem.
    "Thought maybe I could talk you into a movie tonight. We could drive into Tyler if you want. Go to the new Cinemark. I got paid today."
    "I have a date, in case you ain't heard." She held the garment against her and assessed herself in the full-length mirror on the wall. The fringe was sorta sexy. And the rich purple of the material made her platinum hair look shimmery. The top might look good with her new Gap jeans, purchased last month at the Galleria in Houston .
    "Oh, yeah?" Cy Ricky's mouth quirked to one side as he stared over her shoulder at her mirrored image. The Ping-Pong ball in his throat slid up and down as