Rocky Mountain Miracle Read Online Free PDF Page B

sensual song, and Cole reached out to pull her back into his arms. “What puts me out of your league?”
    She tilted her head to look up at him, which was a major mistake. His eyes were such a deep blue, almost metallic, and he looked at her with dark desire. With hunger. With possession and determination. There was a ruthless edge to his mouth and a need in the depths of hisgaze she couldn’t avoid. Her breath left her lungs in a rush. “Everything. Money. Experience. Life. I don’t want to get singed, let alone burned. You come with far too high a price tag.”
    His eyes were locked on hers, and she couldn’t break away, held captive in spite of her resolve. It was the fleeting glimpse of the hurt animal, the shadows of pain and betrayal he hid behind his cool, icy demeanor that kept her from walking off the dance floor. She slipped her arms around his neck and allowed her body to sink into the heat of his.
    His chin rubbed the top of her head. “All this time I was thinking you were the one with the high price tag.”
    â€œYou probably think all women come with price tags,” she muttered against his chest. She turned her head to lay her ear over his heart.
    â€œDon’t they?” he asked. “Usually it isn’t all that difficult, but you, lady, present a problem.”
    Maia listened to the steady rhythm of his heart. “I refuse to be a problem for you. You’re the one insisting on dancing with me. I told you no.”
    â€œI didn’t hear you say no.”
    â€œReally?” She smiled against his shirt. “I could have sworn the entire room heard me. I thought I was very emphatic about it.”
    â€œNo, you definitely didn’t say no.”
    â€œWell, I should have. My guard must have been down.” She laughed softly, and the sound played right through his body.
    â€œYou’re dangerous.”
    â€œFunny. That’s what everyone says about you,” Maia said.
    Cole bent his head once more to the temptation of her bare neck. She was warm satin. He tasted her, teased her earlobe with his teeth. Before she could protest his action he lifted his head to distract her. “Why did you stick up for me in the diner the other day?” he asked. “Everyone believes I killed the old man. Why don’t you?”
    Maia shivered, tried to pull her suddenly scattered defenses back around her. His mouth had sent small flames licking over her skin. “You were cleared as a suspect. It’s all they talk about sometimes, and it gets annoying. You were a thousand miles away when your father was murdered, but they want to believe you did it.” She burrowed closer to the warmth of his heart without realizing she was doing it. “You inherited all that money and the ranch after you left home and turned your back on your father. And then you dared to fire everyone. It’s human nature I guess. They want you to be guilty. And it gives them someone to talk about.”
    â€œI still might have had it done,” he pointed out. His hands traced the contours of her back, slid down to her waist and over her hips.
    â€œIt was wrong of them. I felt bad for the boy. What is he? About fourteen, fifteen? He just lost his father, and they want to spread gossip about his guardian. It’s malicious, and it makes me angry.”
    â€œHe’s fourteen, and he hated the old man.” Cole heard the contemptuous words come out of his mouth. He never revealed anything private to anyone, least of all a complete stranger or a woman he had sex with. What the hell had gotten into him?
    They weren’t even dancing anymore, just holding one another and swaying, their bodies moving in a perfectrhythm. His arms tightened around her, and he drew her hips closer to him. The rest of the room seemed to have fallen away, leaving them wrapped in a world of two. Maia looked up at his face. Something fluttered in her stomach. His head began to