Sleepless in Montana Read Online Free PDF Page B

are you doing
anyway? The last time I heard you were a radio sports
announcer.”
    “Gave that one up. They wanted to tie me down
with five-year exclusive contracts, that sort of thing. I’m not
going exclusive for anyone but myself. Sold limousines for a time,
but I made a bundle. I’m into stocks and trading— Aaron helped me
get started. By the way, I’d like to check my latest investments
and see how they’re doing on your land-line computer. My cell isn’t
receiving out here.”
    “Fine. Do what you want. You will anyway,”
Hogan said, leaning his head back to study the fan and firelight
shadows upon the ceiling. Jemma’s mind could roll in twenty
directions at once; his was still prowling through the past and
Carley’s attack— who was her attacker?
    Whoever he was had to know about the local
Celestial Virgin story, or knew someone who lived in the area. He
had to know where Carley was that night—
    Jemma bounced to her feet and headed toward
his office. After staring into the fire, hating Carley’s attacker,
and wondering how he could manage a relationship with Ben, even a
short-term one, Hogan sighed and went to find Jemma.
    She was busily punching keys on his computer.
“I knew that investment in Slinky Lace would pay off. Working women
don’t like to wear plain cotton bras anymore. Slinky Lace moved
into the large women’s sizes, added more support and their promo is
great. Plus-size women love the boy-leg cut... doesn’t ride up
either. Yeah! I’ve tripled my investment since this morning.”
    She stood and stretched, arms over her head,
revealing a smooth expanse of creamy stomach.
    Hogan’s throat dried. He looked away, stunned
by his impulse to flatten his dark hand upon that pale skin, to
feel the curved form move and arc beneath his touch. The line was
perfect, feminine, and soft, a visual reminder that a woman’s body
could hold life and nurture— He inhaled her feminine scent and
frowned. He didn’t want to enjoy any part of Jemma and her
computer-for-profit brain.
    Jemma looked at him. “Mitch and Aaron can be
trusted to make things run smoothly. I came here early to get your
promise that you won’t cause trouble with Ben. They still love each
other, you know.”
    “Dinah married another man. That doesn’t
sound like love.”
    “It wasn’t love. It was companionship. Joseph
helped set her up in the temporary work business. She kept the
Kodiak name, not Joseph Merrick’s last name. Joseph gave her warmth
and protection when she needed it. She gave him the family he’d
always wanted. He made certain that Carley and Aaron knew who their
father was, and that they kept their Kodiak names as well. It was a
fair exchange that suited them both for a time.”
    Jemma pushed her hand through her hair,
studied Hogan, then touched his cheek. She smiled when he jerked
away from her light touch. “You look so much like Ben.”
    “Aaron looks like Ben. Old Jedidiah, Ben’s
grandfather, and Aaron, Ben’s father, all have that same blunt,
hard look— wide forehead, deep-set eyes, broad high cheekbones, an
ordinary blunt nose, a hard line for a mouth, and a jaw that could
cut granite.”
    “What a description. Those are your
ancestors, too, Hogan. Jedidiah was your great-grandfather and old
Aaron was your grandfather. Aaron has wavy blond hair and is
blue-eyed. But you are a reflection of Ben in every way, and he
knows it. Maybe that’s why you can’t get along, because he resents
himself as a younger man. That senseless macho old dog, new dog
stuff. Do you ever wonder how beautiful life would have been if he
hadn’t lost that leg?”
    “Skip the psychology. Ben never wanted me,
the bastard son.” The words were bitter on his tongue. Life hadn’t
been beautiful for Hogan; his earliest memories were those of
trying to please a man who treated him coldly.
    “Still feeling sorry for yourself, aren’t
you? Aaron and Carley saw you as their protector, the big brother
they could depend