Plain Jane & The Hotshot Read Online Free PDF Page A

of a chip on her shoulder.
    Jo Lofton had intrigued him from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. But unfortunately, the emotions she stirred within him dredged up other feelings, too, and memories he usually worked hard to quell.
    Looking at women like Jo was downright madness for him, because it made him yearn for a lifestyle he wasn’t sure he could live. Many people suffered from what was done to them, but Nick had discovered that his deepest scars were mainly scars of omission—the parents he never knew, the loving home he never had, the lack of any reason for putting down roots.
    The one woman he had dared to let himself love, for whom he would have given up this nomadic job of his, did not let him make that choice. Karen hadleft him. According to her, she’d found something better. And her stubbornness triggered his own.
    â€œEarth calling Nick Kramer,” a voice said loudly, and Nick’s thoughts suddenly scattered.
    Tom Albers stood before him in the gathering light, buckling on his utility belt.
    He stared down at Nick with a face taut with concern.
    â€œYou got a mind for this today? Last thing we need is a preoccupied man getting himself into trouble.”
    â€œI’m all right,” Nick said, his jaw hardening.
    Tom nodded. “How do you want us to insert?” he asked again. “Two teams or three?”
    â€œThree,” Nick replied, forcing dangerous thoughts of Jo Lofton out of his mind. “One north of the river, two south. It’s too steep for vehicles, so we’ll have to hike out. Each team leader radios me on the hour.”
    â€œGot it,” Tom affirmed.
    But as Nick rigged his ax to his backpack, Jo’s taunting words snapped in his mind like burning twigs: I’m not a challenge—I’m a zero possibility where you’re concerned.

Four
    â€œL et’s go, ladies. Rise and shine!”
    Hazel’s strong voice was like an explosion in the slumbering peace of the cabin.
    Jo bolted upright in bed, wondering what the emergency was.
    â€œUp and at ’em!” Dottie’s twanging voice chimed in, loud enough to wake snakes. “We should be five miles down the road by now, cowgirls. Shake the lead out.”
    Still groggy, Jo groaned when a powerful flashlight beam swept into her eyes.
    â€œMy God, it’s still dark outside!” Bonnie complained.
    â€œC’mon, sweethearts, are you bolted to those beds?” Hazel said. “The wilderness is calling you.”
    â€œOkay, okay, we’re up,” Jo protested, although she couldn’t help grinning when she saw the stupefied look on Kayla’s sleep-puffy face.
    Dressing in the dim illumination of an oil lantern, Jo donned the sturdy outdoor clothing she’d packed: blue jeans, red flannel shirt and sturdy high-top shoes. A splash of water to her face and she felt almost human. Brushing back her hair, she tied it into a ponytail and tucked it under her shirt.
    While she tucked it, however, heat crept into her cheeks. She was recalling the scene yesterday with Nick Kramer.
    I still feel the challenge in spite of your generous peep show.
    In your dreams, bucko, she wished she’d retorted. Why did the good lines always come to her too late to use them?
    As Hazel had promised, the day’s new sun was just edging over the horizon by the time the girls, still knuckling sleep from puffy eyes, trooped up to the crackling flames of the breakfast fire.
    Seeing the sun blaze to life, hearing the “dawn chorus” of hundreds of birds celebrating the arrival of daylight, Jo felt instantly buoyed. Her freshly renewed anger at Nick Kramer receded, and she felt a little thrill at the natural beauty around her.
    She could see why this wilderness spot had grown on Hazel and her friends. “Back of beyond,” Hazel called it.
    â€œWe’re burning good daylight,” said the wise matron gruffly when Kayla straggled in, inappropriately