Sweet Enemy Read Online Free PDF

face, you know," she whispered
sotto
voce.
"It's the mask I wear so my green warts won't show!"
    "Still got 'em, huh?" he said in mock resignation, shaking his
head. "I warned you about kissing those frogs, didn't I?"
    "You two!" Emma laughed, eyeing them. "Always into mischief of
some sort or other. You gave Clint gray hairs when you were
kids."
    "Speaking of old Heavy Hand, where is he?" Brent grinned.
    "Out putting diapers on his baby cows," Maggie told him. "And
ribbons on their mamas, and evening jackets on their daddies.
There's a sale day coming up next week."
    "I know," Brent told her, "that's why I came. I've got my eye on
that prize Hereford bull of Cousin Clint's."
    "Speaking of mammoth ranches," Maggie said, "how is
Mississippi?"
    "Green and beautiful. Why don't you ever come to visit me?"
    She shrugged. "Work. As a matter of fact, I'm Clint's temporary
secretary for the next couple of weeks. That's why I'm here."
    He nodded. "I heard about Lida taking a powder on him," Brent
said with a harsh sigh. "It was no less than I expected. I thought Clint of all
people would have more sense…"
    "And I think everyone's got the wrong idea," Emma said quietly.
"Clint wasn't in love with Lida. He wasn't thinking of marriage,
either. He's a normal, healthy man, and she was a sophisticated
woman who knew the score. And that's enough about it. Come on,
Brent, I'll show you up. Clint will be so surprised…!"
    "See you in a few minutes, Mag," Brent called over Emma's bright
conversation.
    Brent was changing for supper when Clint came in, dusty and
tired and in a gruff temper. His eyes narrowed as they settled on
Maggie, finishing one last letter at her desk.
    "Weren't you hungry?" he asked without preamble.
    She stared at him blankly. "Hungry?"
    "At dinner," he said flatly.
    She remembered what he'd told her at breakfast and began to bloom with color. "You were joking…"
she said weakly.
    "The hell I was," he shot back, his eyes narrow,
threatening.
    She opened her mouth to speak just as Brent came in the door and
clapped Clint on the back.
    "Hi, Cousin!" he said cheerfully as Clint wheeled, stunned, to
face him. "Surprise, surprise!"
    "My God, what are you doing here?" Clint asked irritably.
    "I came for the sale," was the imperturbable reply. "You
did invite me," he reminded the older man.
    "For the sale, not the summer!" Brent's eyebrows went up, but he
cheerfully ignored Clint's ill humor. "Bull gore you or
something?" he asked pleasantly, studying the taller man's dusty
clothes for sign of blood.
    Maggie stifled a giggle, but not before Clint shot a narrow
glance her way and saw her face.
    "Oh, you're home!" Emma smiled at Clint from the
doorway. "Just look who's here. Isn't it nice to have Brent back
again?"
    "Enchanting," Clint agreed. "Pardon me while I go upstairs and
put a gun to my temple in honor of the occasion."
    Three pairs of puzzled eyes followed his tall figure as he
thudded up the stairs.
    "He doesn't
look
drunk," Brent remarked
casually.
    Clint's temper seemed to have improved when he came back
downstairs, his dark hair still damp from a shower, in a pair of
dark slacks and a green patterned silk shirt open at the neck, in a
shade that matched his eyes. He seemed to go out of his way to be
pleasant to Brent, dwelling on the subject of cattle and land
management to such an extent that Emma and Maggie ignored
them and talked clothes all through the meal.
    "I haven't been around back yet," Brent said as they relaxed
over coffee in the living room. "Is the pool still there, and filled?"
    "It is," Clint said pleasantly. "Feel like a swim? Maggie?" he
added, glancing at her.
    "If you'll let me wear a bathing suit, instead of pushing me in
fully clothed," she said sweetly.
    "Honey, it'll be a pleasure," he said in a voice that made
chills run down her spine.
    "Did I miss something?" Brent blinked.
    "Last summer," Maggie explained, "he threw me in the river with
my clothes on."
    "You kicked the hell out of me first,"