Mountains Apart (Mills & Boon Heartwarming) Read Online Free PDF

place, this backwoods...frozen...wasteland.” Emily felt her lashes thicken with moisture. “I want to go home.” A single tear broke loose and trickled slowly down her cheek. “I hate it here, Amanda.”
    â€œEmily, listen to me. You can’t quit now. We can do this. We can. We’ve faced worse. Remember that weird town in Northern California that everyone said was impossible? We did it, remember? And what about that ranching community in Texas? We had death threats there, but we won them over. Oh, and who could forget that little Molotov cocktail thrown through our window in Oklahoma? They almost burned down our house. Come on, Em, this place is going to be a cakewalk compared to some of the jobs we’ve been on.”
    Amanda took a deep breath and continued, “I know you’ve been struggling and I know you haven’t wanted to talk about it, but I think you need to hear this. You need to be successful on this job, Em. It wasn’t right that Franklin promoted Jeremy over you, but you did the right thing by breaking up with him. The guy is a leech. He would never have gotten the job if it wasn’t for you, and now you need to show Franklin what a colossal mistake he has made. This is your opportunity to prove how valuable you are to this company. Without Jeremy here stealing your thunder, Franklin will have no choice but to see it. So, we’re going to do this, in your kick-butt efficient and effective Emily Hollings manner—just not at the expense of your health.”
    Emily snuffled into a tissue and then wiped her eyes. Amanda was right. This was what she did—no one did this job as well as she did. She really didn’t know what it was about this place that had her so out of sorts. It was just so cold and isolated and wild and...intimidating. Kind of like Bering James, she decided. Yep, the man personified the place. She was suddenly struck by an image of him hovered over her and holding her hand. Oh, no...
    â€œAmanda, was Bering James here at the hospital earlier?”
    Amanda leaned forward and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “He stayed here the entire time. I mean, he barely left your side until this morning. You came to really early and the doctor said you were going to be okay, so he went home to take a shower, and apparently whip up a little peach power drink, and hightailed it back here. He was gone for maybe an hour, tops.”
    Emily’s cheeks grew warm again. She cooled them with the smoothie, holding the cup against one cheek and then the other. “I wonder why. I mean, why did he stay?”
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe he was hoping for a repeat performance of your impromptu striptease?” Amanda teased.
    â€œVery funny.”
    â€œEmily, he was worried about you, obviously. And I was worried, too. And to tell you the truth, it was really a comfort having him here.”
    â€œUgh,” Emily bemoaned, “I can’t believe that that man saw me almost naked.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it. He wasn’t the only one. But hey, between him and that cousin of his—I would let either one of them see me naked.”
    â€œCousin? What cousin?”
    â€œOh, man, Bering’s cousin is the paramedic that brought you in. And phew, talk about a hottie. I have half a mind to strip down later and fake passing out.” She tapped a finger thoughtfully against her pursed lips and then asked, “How do you fake a heart attack, I wonder? I should probably be wearing something lower-cut, right? Maybe instigate a little wardrobe malfunction?” She tugged down on the collar of her shirt. “Whaddya think? Would that be too much?”
    â€œAmanda, be serious.” Emily winced. “So, there were actually two men that saw me in my, um, semi-dressed state, then?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThank goodness.” Emily breathed a sigh of relief and then realized that couldn’t be true.