Here Comes Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page B

about the old man. He never judged her.
    She’d spent a few years working whatever jobs she could find. Eventually Ray’s illness had brought her back here.
    Being back in Trouble was not what she’d pictured for her future.
    The “art studio” she’d put together after moving back, was actually just an empty room. She’d managed to fill it with a few pieces of furniture, and inspirational items like Ray’s old rotary phone and an antique water pump. Her supplies including, pencils, charcoal, watercolors and paints sat on Ray’s ancient and splintered desk. She’d chosen this room because it had the best light. In the early mornings, the light streamed in full blast, setting the perfect mood to sketch whatever came to mind. She’d yet to sell anything though; something she needed to remedy. As soon as she found a studio where an amateur could hang their work, she’d have her in.
    She’d just sat down on the couch, pad in her lap, when a knock came from the front door. Considering the last someone who’d knocked on her door had come bearing unpleasant news, Lacy was a tad reluctant to open it.
    She still held out hope the Publisher’s Clearinghouse people would find her. So she opened it, hoping to see a man holding a giant fake check with a camera crew behind him. No luck. It was only Chase. Her heart jumped all over her chest.
    “If you have fresh scratches on your back, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
    Chase, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, graced her with an open-mouthed smile. “You’re a riot, Miss Twiggy.”
    She started to slam the door on his face when he slapped his palm against it, preventing her from completing her task. “What do you want, Chase?”
    He held up a white envelope. “I come here to give you a present, and this is how you treat me?”
    “Depends on what you mean by present .”
    One of his sexy I-know-I’m-God’s-gift-to-women laughs rolled over her when he shoved his way past her. “So suspicious.”
    “Do come in,” she said after he already stood in the entryway. The presence of him in the house zapped all the serenity she’d been basking in a moment ago.
    He pulled off his sunglasses and hooked them in the pocket of his white T-shirt. How could a plain, cotton shirt threaten to make her babble like a two-year-old?
    “It’s such a beautiful day out. Why are you spending your day off indoors?”
    She eyed the envelope in his hands. “I was actually just getting ready to leave.”
    One corner of his mouth twitched. “Liar.”
    How does he know? Maybe he pays more attention to me than I thought. Her only response was a closed-lipped smile.
    He thrust the plain envelope at her. “Here.” The sexy hint of a grin disappeared, leaving his ruggedly handsome face impassive.
    Lacy didn’t accept. Chase hadn’t made a habit of giving her presents, except her nicknames. She wasn’t any more excited to accept the envelope than she had his cutesy monikers.
    “It’s not a rattlesnake, Lace,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Just take it.”
    Only mild curiosity compelled her to take the envelope from his big, tanned hands. Feeling Chase’s eyes on her, Lacy slid the flap open and pulled out a check. A check made out to her for twenty-thousand dollars.
    Holy hell . She’d always prided herself on being a quick thinker on her feet. This time her brain failed to offer her any kind of intelligent response. Her heart did a little jig up to her throat. She had to pull a deep breath into her lungs to keep from hyperventilating. The little check fluttered as her hand shook from disbelief and shock. Unable to look Chase in the eye, she managed to shove the check back in the envelope. “No way.”   She held it out to him, but he didn’t take it back.
    Independence had always been her first defense in her screwy world. From an early age, she’d learned to take care of herself. Accepting help from a man who’d gone from being her nemesis to the object of her