Now and Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

muster, raising her chin proudly. “And I wasn’t flirting. You accused me of having a chip on my shoulder, but I think it’s the other way around, Russell.”
    He took a long draw from the cigarette. “You just keep an eye on Eileen, baby girl, and save the come-get-me glances for boys your own age. You ought to know by now that it’s all or nothing with me—in everything.”
    She straightened, turning away from him to the staircase. “I haven’t been home ten minutes, and you’re jumping to conclusionsall over again,” she said icily. “All right, Russell, if it’s war, it’s war. I’ll keep out of your way.”
    â€œGet your clothes changed. I’ll run you over to Nan’s.”
    She froze with her back to him. “I’d rather…couldn’t Joby drive me?”
    â€œTen minutes,” he said, turning on his heel.
    Â 
    The trouble with arguing with Russell, she fumed while she exchanged her beachwear for a pair of white slacks and a high crew-neck patterned brown and white blouse, was that he wouldn’t argue. He said what he wanted to, ignored what anyone else said, and walked off. Flirting, he’d accused her of. Was it flirting to kid with him? She jerked a brush through her wavy hair enthusiastically. Her face was stony in the mirror. If she could only hold on until Frank came south, at least she’d have an ally. She paused and smiled. No, Nan and Eileen would do for now. She sighed. She had friends, after all.
    He was waiting impatiently in the hall when she got downstairs, two minutes underthe deadline. In the tailored brown denim jeans and khaki work shirt, he looked even taller, more imposing than the suit he had been wearing. He eyed her carelessly, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his ranch hat, which sat at a rakish angle over his jutting brow.
    â€œLittle sophisticate,” he chided, his eyes taking her in from the white Italian sandals to the white band that held her hair back. “Who are you trying to impress?”
    The sarcasm in his deep, lazy voice flicked her like a silver-tipped whip.
    â€œNot you, for a fact,” she returned, keeping her temper in check.
    He only smiled, but there was no humor in it. “Let’s go.”
    He put her in the jeep beside him and backed it out to the side of the garage.
    She shifted uncomfortably, aware of the tracts of red dust that were going to cling to those crisp white slacks if she so much as breathed the wrong way.
    â€œWant to change into something darker?” he asked.
    â€œHow about the Lincoln?” she returned sharply.
    â€œI work, Miss Priss,” he replied. He pulled into the driveway and started down it with a jerk as he shifted the gear in the floorboard. His hand was dangerously near her leg, and she moved closer to the door. “The Lincoln looks a little showy to take digging post holes with me,” he finished without even a glance betraying that he’d seen her slide away.
    She shrugged, turning her head to watch the rolling, soft swell of the land, green and sweet smelling in the afternoon breeze. They passed the Appaloosas again, and she grimaced when she saw them. That wild streak in Baker wouldn’t let him rest until he finished whatever he started, and that included breaking one stubborn Appaloosa stallion. It had caused him to have a heart attack, yet he was still restless to get back to his horses. He’d said as much to Tish over the phone.
    Her eyes glanced at Russell, sitting easily in the seat with his hat cocked over one eye, his face impassive. That same wildness was in him, she thought, involuntarily studying the sharp masculine profile, her eyes lingering on the strong, brown hands on the steering wheel. Russell would break before hewould let anything bend him—especially a woman.
    In a shady spot on the winding, sandy road, he suddenly pulled the jeep onto the flat shoulder under a bushy