Snow Bound Read Online Free PDF

hair back behind her left ear. He hadn’t noticed that little habit the other times he’d seen her, probably because s he’d been in environmen t s where she’d felt in control— her business, the yard, social gatherings. Tonight the only thing under her control had been her decision to step outside the back door.
    Somet hing he was very grateful she’ d done, even if he had been winning.
    Needing to clear away the last of his adrenaline rush, he paced across the old-fashioned braided rug and polished wooden floors. He needed something to do, something to f ocus on. At home, he would be catching up on his technical manuals or sleeping. Here he was locked in a house with an available, attractive woman and the most likely option wasn’t, well, an option.
    “Why ? ” he asked, giving in to the need to understand.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Tori cursed the weakness stealing into her body. Tiny quakes jerked through her muscles, though whether they were from the ice on her thigh or the realization that Bobby Joe was actually out there, she wasn’t sure.
    She hated being this vulnerable again. Instinct yelled at her to get up and do something, just as she had done with the gun earlier, but there was nothing to do. Going out into the storm to look for him would be stupid, and the house was as secure as it could be. Nothing left but to wait and see. Take care of herself. Pray the snowstorm wouldn’t wreak as much havoc as they anticipated… because she was going to need a sheriff here as soon as they could get in touch with one.
    Shifting a little, wishing she could get away from the cold pack, she let her mind drift back t o the last time she’d seen her ex . His sentencing. When the judge had handed down the stiff punishment, almost a decade in prison, the hometown hero fa c ade had b een shattered in an instant. Bobby Joe ha d whirled to face Tori where she sat alone, her parents at the hospital after her dad’s stroke .
    “He threatened m e in front of God and everybody the day of the sentencing,” she whispered, her voice without the strength it needed to project across the space, but he heard her anyway. The tensing muscles in Damon’s back were easier to see now that he’d stripped off his jacket.
    “Do the local police know that?”
    “Yes. Actually it was one of the officers from town came to let me know Bobby Joe had been released on parole. But when nothing came of it, we figured he’d headed somewhere else. His family moved to Knoxville, so he had no reason to come back here.”
    “Except you.”
    Except me. S he couldn’t force the words out, hated that she’d even thought them. But it was true. Wasn’t she the special one?
    Damon kept talking. “He must be one determined hombre to be out in this kind of weather.”
    She though t back to her high school days . “He was a big hunter, just like a lot of guys around here. He’d know where to get some equipment for this, I guess.” She swallowed hard. “Maybe I’m wrong. Why would he go to all this trouble for me?”
    Unable to stand the chill any longer, even with the heat pumping from the fireplace, she used the nearest hand to wrap the ice pack in the towel a nd lift it off her.
    “That should probably stay on a little longer,” Damon said, moving toward her across the room.
    Another shiver worked through her, but she managed to turn it into a shrug. “I think it w ill be fine. A couple of pain relievers and I’ll be as good as new.”
    He knelt to the left of her legs, automatically reaching for the hem of her T-shirt . “Let me just take a quick look and make sure you’ re al l right.”
    Welcome heat rushed to her cheeks. At least the room was shadowed enough to hide her reaction. Though this time the embarrassment didn’t take hold, for which she was grateful. In its wake c rept a very different sensation, one she didn’t have a lot of experience with. Oh, she’d had her share of lovers, but