Do Not Disturb Read Online Free PDF

could.
    Without a sound, Judd approached Beth, flowing to her in a smooth motion that looked like one of those tai chi movements he practiced. They all had poetic names like Cloud Hand or Wind Rolls the Lotus Leaves, and as Judd knelt at Beth’s feet and linked his fingers with hers, Cooper titled this one Tiger Finding Flower.
    Something unspoken yet palpable passed between them. Judd would probably say it was their chi —the life energy that moves through all living things. He’d earned the right to call it whatever he wanted, Cooper thought, because with just that simple touch, Beth relaxed. Her tears dried, her color evened out, the next breath she took was long and deep. Oh yeah, Judd’s yin was definitely balancing Beth’s yang.
    Feeling unnecessary—and grateful—Cooper rose off the couch.
    â€œI’ll be all right,” Beth said softly. “Thanks.”
    He didn’t bother determining if she was talking to him or to Judd, instead leaving the room to them. There was that date he had with Katie and a Perrier. Even on a day like today, surely the sunset would bring him some measure of peace.
    But when he threw open the door to the terrace, he knew there wasn’t going to be any sunset to enjoy after all. The fog had moved in, and the wet mist was swirling around the tables like the cold, gray breath of ghosts. Several gas patio heaters had been lit againstthe dampness, and knots of people were gathered beneath each one.
    His gaze wandered, then skidded to a halt.
    The black-hatted woman. Again. Still. She was standing to the right, chatting with Brother Charles. That odd uneasiness she awakened in him set off another clanging round of warning bells.
    So, no sunset tonight, and no peace either. At least not yet. Not until he discovered who she was and exactly how to get rid of her.
    With a measured stride, he headed toward that big black hat. He’d been a pretty canny attorney not long ago, so he began concocting a strategy, outlining his cross-examination on a mental legal notepad. But the pages blew from his mind as he watched her lift her hands and remove her hat.
    His feet stuttered as she shook out her hair, using one hand to fluff out miles of the stuff that had been confined all afternoon. Under the comb of her fingers, the miles descended, then sprang back up into a shoulder-blade-length mass of blond spirals.
    â€œJesus,” he heard himself say loudly, as he regained the use of his legs and started moving again. “Who— what the hell are you?”
    She spun to face him. It was as if she’d fluttered out of one of his brother-in-law’s more fanciful paintings. Outside of his customary depictions of hearth and home, Stephen had occasionally painted fairies sleeping in the stamens of flowers, elves hiding among the leaves of a tree, pixies peeking from beneath four-leaf clovers. There was something about her appearance that reminded him of magic creatures like those.
    He knew he was staring at her, but the woman’s looks were nothing short of arresting. Her small size and wealth of blond hair was paired with a heart-shaped—heart-shaped!—face and eyes of a pure, blameless baby blue.
    He swallowed. “You…you’re…”
    Those remarkable eyes rolled and she released a resigned sigh. “I’m twenty-seven years old.”
    He wanted to laugh. Apparently the world usually took all that blond fragility for youth. But as a damn good criminal attorney, he’d honed his ability to size up people quickly, and he sensed that beneath all the marshmallow fluff was something much more substantial. No wonder his instincts had been tipped off. This woman looked lethal.
    Yes indeed, her sinless appearance couldn’t fool him.
    So he stepped up to her, the warmth of the patio heater washing over his head and shoulders but doing nothing to dispel his cool sense of purpose. “Who are you?” he asked again.
    Lifting