Love By Accident Read Online Free PDF Page A

once they had a chance to talk, her heart would stop leaping every time she saw him. "Well, I'd better make myself useful."
    Matt didn't move and the doorway wasn't wide. Lauren stopped when she reached it, wiped her damp hands down her legs. His gaze tracked her movement, lingered on her hips, then met hers again. Lauren inched her way forward. Hugo Boss teased her senses. Still he didn't step aside.
    She'd spent years with Matt, knew him well and loved him like a brother. He'd always been a little goofy, but he'd been cute, too. Wavy brown hair, a charming smile, and those brilliant blue eyes. It had only been four years and yet the goofy jokester she'd known had been replaced with a more mature, slightly harder man.
    It wasn't only the muscles he seemed to have built since then, it was the little lines around his eyes. The seriousness in his eyes. The, well, edge, he hadn't had before. It had to be the edge, Lauren decided, that had her reacting so uncharacteristically to him.
    Matt meant to crowd her a little. Since seeing her yesterday she'd called the shots, she'd had all the control and he was determined to get it back. Yet as she stilled before him, as her lips parted and he heard her breath pass between them, he knew his little tactic hadn't served any purpose other than to reinforce what he'd suspected. He still wanted her.
    The realization stung his pride. After years of being friends and pretending that was all he felt as he dated other girls, after everything he'd been through since the accident, she still had him by the balls.
    He backed up, let her pass. Out on the lawn she struggled to pick up a box which was clearly too heavy for her. She shifted, planted her feet and, with bent knees, picked it up. She wavered, her face flushed with the effort, but she managed to get it into the trailer. He knew her stubborn streak. He wondered where it had been when she'd up and left him helpless in the hospital.
    "I take it you two haven't talked yet," Ted asked.
    "Nope," Matt answered as Lauren stepped from the trailer and grabbed another box.
    "I did an internet search, after our talk yesterday. There was a whole article on the crash. They even had a picture of the car." He shook his head. "She never said a word. Not about the accident, nor about her training. It explains a few things, though."
    "Like what?" Matt asked, shifting his attention to Ted.
    "Like there are always shadows behind her smiles. She never talks about anyone but her sister. She leads a pretty solitary life."
    "That's her choice."
    "You're not going to give an inch, are you?"
    Matt squared his shoulders. "No, I'm not. I was told I may never walk again but I proved them wrong. I was determined to prove them wrong. Whatever life Lauren is leading, she's chosen it. Now, if you want to get out of here on time, I'd better get loading."
    The fog had burned off around noon and now the snow-capped peaks reached granite fingers for blue sky. The sun was warm for October.
    "Here, I'll help you," Matt said when Lauren struggled to maintain a grip on a box.
    "I've got it."
    His gaze met hers. "Well, now we both do."
    He backed into the trailer and together they set the cardboard down. When their hands were empty, they faced each other awkwardly. She had grown her hair since the accident. The blond ponytail reached well past her shoulders and her bangs were just long enough to touch her lashes. The grey eyes that used to sparkle and shine now stared back at him hesitantly.
    Lauren dropped her gaze to her shoes. She shuffled foot to foot.
    "Something on your mind?"
    When her eyes looked at him all he could think of was damn Ted. The man was right, she did have shadows lurking and if Matt wasn't careful, he'd be swayed by them.
    "I never said it last night, but I'm really glad you can walk."
    He scoffed. Too little too late. "Why, because it eases your guilt, knowing you didn't abandon a paralyzed man?"
    "Yes, partly."
    His chest deflated. He'd never expected her to