Highly Charged! Read Online Free PDF

considered remotely personal and failed. “They didn’t use my first name once in the entire conversation.”
    Brad poured tall glasses of tea for both of them while the night music of crickets and whip-poor-wills picked up volume. The scent of his soap mingled with the smell of dinner as he leaned closer.
    Memories of the other time she’d seen him after a shower—her semi-accidental voyeurism—shot a flood of heat through her veins. She should have known she’d meet her neighbor face-to-face one day. Should have anticipated this overheated situation. But since he was around the house so rarely, Nikki had just assumed he would ship out before they ever got around to an introduction.
    She licked her lips and hoped her heart would quit lapsing into hyperactive mode.
    â€œAre you kidding? All those questions about where you lived before and what you teach at the university were total curiosity on the younger guy’s part.” He usedhis fork to tear open the foil veggie packet, releasing a puff of steam into the night. “How much you want to bet he emails you next week and asks to take one of your classes?”
    Nikki realized she couldn’t recall what either of the officers looked like. How had Brad taken such careful note of what went on, especially since he’d stepped away long before they were finished?
    â€œToo bad I’m not in the market for a man.” Better to make that clear straight from the gate—to herself as much as Brad. No matter how much she might find a certain male appealing, she wasn’t planning on acting on it.
    Brad Riddock would be out of her life faster than a blink, a fact which she couldn’t ignore. How many times had she been dumped off on relatives as a kid, only to have her parents promise they’d return by Christmas and then New Year’s and then maybe for her birthday in February? She’d fallen for those promises too many times, wanting to believe they’d missed her as much as she’d missed them when they’d left on one exotic adventure after another. But the truth was, they hadn’t.
    And while she’d sorted through a lot of that hurt during her adult years to become a stronger person, she knew better than to bring that sort of heartache back into her life. Especially when her plate was full with responsibilities to Chloe.
    â€œWhy? Is the cop your type?” Brad’s blue eyes caught the moonlight, dangerous and alluring.
    She swallowed hard at the sudden vision of what it would be like to kiss him. Touch him.
    â€œActually, no. But he should be my type. I’m trying tostay away from the guys who need saving.” She pointed toward the recovering blue jay and chipmunk in their cages on the patio. “I have a problem with trying to solve the world’s problems, one broken wing at a time. But I think the police officers were only asking about my past to find out if the trespasser was someone local or if it could have been someone I knew before I moved here.”
    â€œIt’s someone who doesn’t want you to stay in this house.” His flat assessment sounded so certain.
    â€œWhy do you say that?” She agreed one hundred percent, but she had her own reasons.
    â€œThe damage done was meant to discourage you from working on the house. The torn-up patch in the yard will cost time and money to fix. The broken window ensures you don’t feel safe in addition to the expense to replace it. I’d say it’s an attack on the property as much as you.”
    Her last bite of chicken leg turned dry in her throat at the thought of someone escalating a campaign to chase her out. Damn it, she’d never had a real home before. She wouldn’t let anyone scare her away from this one. She’d stayed up late on this very patio with Chloe on summer nights, sharing stories from their past and dreams for the future. That time had been magical for her and no amount of