She's Got It Bad Read Online Free PDF

frowned. “I wanted to find out what had gone wrong.”
    Her chin came up and her eyes narrowed. “Wrong?”
    “That you needed to do something like that.”
    She shook her head, truly staggered by his arrogance.
    “Wow. Haven’t you become the morals campaigner. Let me save you the bother of worrying about me. I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than fine. I’m exactly where I want to be.”
    “I don’t believe that.”
    She laughed again, a sound totally without humor. “I don’t give a damn what you believe or don’t believe. Who the hell do you think you are, walking into my life and telling me I’m wrong and looking at me as though I just offered you a blow job for a tenner?”
    “I was worried about you,” he said.
    She swore and stared at the ceiling as she struggled to keep a grip on her temper. Her lips curled into a sneer when she looked at him again.
    “Twelve years too late, baby,” she said. “Now, how about you get the hell out of my space?”
    He stared at her.
    “Go! I don’t want to see you or speak to you,” she said. To her great shame, hot tears burned at the back of her eyes. She held them there by sheer dint of will as they eyeballed each other.
    “Fine. But this isn’t over,” he said.
    She swore again, telling him exactly what she thought of him and where he could go, with bells on.
    He gave her one last, long look before turning on his heel and exiting. She reached for the countertop behind her and grasped the edge to stop her rubbery knees from collapsing. Then a more urgent need gripped her. One hand pressed to her mouth, she just made it to the restroom before she lost her breakfast to the toilet bowl.
    How she hated him. How she hated herself for still feeling anything for him after all these years.
    She ducked her head over the sink and rinsed her mouth out. Her eyes were guarded as she surveyed herself in the chipped mirror above the sink.
    For the first time in a long time, she felt a stab of the phantom pain that had haunted her for so long after the operation. She pressed a hand to her belly.
    A knock sounded on the bathroom door.
    “You in here, Zoe? Your tenderfoot’s arrived for his ten-thirty appointment,” Jake called.
    “I’ll be out in a minute,” she said.
    She rinsed her mouth again, then pressed her cool, wet hands against her cheeks.
    Screw Liam Masters. She didn’t give a damn about him or what he thought of her. She exited the bathroom and put on her brightest, sassiest smile for the scared teenager standing uncertainly in the doorway of her workroom.
    “Rodney. Great to see you. Let’s turn you into a piece of walking, talking art, baby,” she said.
    LIAM THOUGHT ABOUT ZOE all day at work. He thought about the look in her eyes when she’d first seen him and recognized him. He thought about her attitude, all sharp edges and defenses. He thought about the length of her legs and the fullness of her breasts, every detail of both on display thanks to her painted-on clothes. He thought about the tattoo on her neck, a striking overblown rose in shades of black and gray.
    Zoe. His Zoe, all grown up. And nothing like he’d ever imagined her. Certainly not happily married with kids.
    He couldn’t reconcile the woman he’d met today with the girl he’d known twelve years ago. It didn’t seem possible that the pure, innocent, generous spirit that had been Zoe could grow up into a woman so hard and edgy.
    He couldn’t afford to be this distracted right now. The workshop was operating at full capacity, and as always, there were fires to put out. Delays on the parts they’d ordered for a custom chopper that had a strict delivery date. Problems with the fit of the double-overhead engine one client had requested.
    He discussed options and solutions with his chief designer and lead fabricator, Vinnie. He wrangled suppliers. He put a rocket up one of the assembly teams to ensure they kept to schedule. At a quarter to seven, he shrugged into his leather jacket