Escaping the Past (Wester Farms) Read Online Free PDF Page A

imagined them bare , and they seemed to be a mile long with no pants to mar the lines. He shook his head again.
     
    Brody turned to walk down the hallway and couldn’t suppress the grin that stole across his face. He also couldn’t suppress the urge to adjust the fit of his pants.
     
    ****
     
    Lou, freshly showered and dressed, applied a light bit of makeup and dried and brushed her hair until it shone. She left her room and took the stairs down to the library where her desk and files were located. Late mornings and early afternoons were reserved for office work. She often took a small break to help Sadie put lunch on the table but rarely stopped to eat more than a bite herself.
     
    She turned to enter her office and was stunned to find her chair was turned backward and someone with broad shoulders was sitting at her desk. The figure in her chair turned and Lou groaned inwardly when she realized who it was. Broden Wester, III was reclining in her chair, talking on the phone. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot lightly as she waited for him to surrender her work area.
     
    “I’ll just be a minute,” he said, covering the mouthpiece and stretching his long legs so he could put his feet on her desk. Of all the nerve!
     
    Lou decided it wasn’t worth the argument and walked beside the desk to retrieve a file so she could take it to the kitchen and work. She knocked his feet off the top of her desk with a gentle shove and opened the file drawer to the right of the chair in which he sat. The drawer bumped his knees so he turned slightly to the front to avoid a second blow. Her elbow brushed his thigh as he turned. He instantly reacted and flexed his thigh muscle in response.
     
    She heard his indrawn breath and wondered if he was agitated because of her interruption , or if he had felt the same heat she did when their skin touched. She bet it was the former.
     
    “Dr. Jones, can I call you back later today? Yes. I have some notes I need to review and then I’ll get back with you. Thanks for understanding. Yes. This is a very trying time. I appreciate your help.” He hung up the phone and his steely eyes met her s .
     
    “Hi,” he said.
     
    “Hi,” she clipped out.
     
    “I think we got off on the wrong foot. Can we start over?”
     
    “Does starting over include you berating me for being a freeloader again?” He at least had the good grace to flush.
     
    “I’m sorry,” he said, rising from the chair. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Dr. Brody Wester. And you are?”
     
    “I am annoyed.” He didn’t deserve more from her than that, did he?
     
    “I deserved that,” he said beneath his breath. “ Am I keeping you from work?”
     
    “Actually, you are, so, if you don’t mind…” She nodded toward the door. She could be civil if she had to, couldn’t she?
     
    “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Lou.” He extended his hand to shake hers. Her hand rose hesitantly but clasped his firmly. She wouldn’t let him see any weakness in her. None at all.
     
    “I’ll let you get to work,” he said, walking toward the door. “Will I see you at lunch?” he asked.
     
    She mumbled, “Not if I see you first.”
     
    A mischievous grin lit his face as he met her eyes , and then he waved quickly and left the room.
     
    After taking a few moments to collect her thoughts, Lou worked in the library, poring over figures and facts until her eyes crossed and she could no longer read the pages. She checked her watch and realized it was almost one in the afternoon. She went to the kitchen and helped Sadie carry two heaping trays of sandwiches and fruit, typical lunch fare, outside to the picnic tables under the shade trees. Jeb had already arrived and had iced down sodas, tea , and bottled water for the lunch crowd. Sadie also uncovered a plate of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.
     
    After the hands were all settled for lunch, Lou grabbed a cookie, a bottle of water, two