Taming McGruff (Book 3, Once Upon A Romance Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

tingled.
     
    ***
     
    Griffin lounged in his bedroom doorway. He didn’t dare step inside the room while she looked around. And she thought he was lethal.
    Her innocent questions had turned to a much more serious conversation. Her revelations about her earlier life stunned him.
    Nowhere in any file or report had he uncovered the former life of Mrs. Agnes King. It was as if she’d erased that part of herself. Now, he could see why. The stain of her first husband leaving her pregnant and with a toddler along with living in poverty conditions soon after would have been a great deal to overcome, most likely impossible, in the wealthy society she so desperately clung to all these years.
    But now he stared at the part that poked at him, stirred his emotions enough to melt another piece of his sheltered, guarded heart. Priscilla King surprised him. With her sunny disposition and caring gestures, he would never have guessed at the dark moments in her past.
    Life is what you make it .
    Thankfully, she’d overcome it. For that he would always be grateful.
    At least one of them had thrived.
    “Just a bed? Really, Griff, you need some serious help here.” She poked her head into the bathroom. “Nice,” she murmured. But when she made her way to his closet, he halted her.
    “Off-limits.”
    She swung the light to focus on the half-opened door. “What, in there? Secrets? Come on, you can’t have much, if the looks of the rest of the house is any indication. Or, wait maybe you’re a clothes-horse and you’re embarrassed by that fact. You know, my friend, Rico, would like to see. He’s a clothes-horse to the max.”
    Griff frowned. “Who’s this Rico you keep mentioning?” Is he that important to you ?
    “He works at King’s. He’s the wedding consultant. He took over for my sister, Francine, who is now a wedding dress buyer for the store since she and Marcus married. And she trains more employees for the wedding boutique.”
    Now he knew who Rico was. “Used to be the beauty salon manager?” Relief shot through him. That feeling concerned him. Why should he care who she was close to or if there were a man in her life?
    “Yes, he’s funny, throws the best parties, and a dream to pull pranks with.”
    The smile in her voice caused warmth to spread in his veins.
    “He’s my best friend.” Coming close, she said, “And my mother hates him!”
    “She’s met him?” He thought since her and her sister’s departure from the family home that she’d had nothing to do with the woman.
    “No. That’s the problem.” She sighed heavily. “She calls and begs me to listen to reason. She’s all about appearances. He doesn’t fit into her neat and tidy ideal. Plus, I don’t either.” He could see her shrug. “Her loss.” Her voice caught.
    It bothered her that her only remaining parent couldn’t accept her for who she was. His chest tightened.
    “So are we sleeping in here tonight?”

 
     
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    The innocent question rushed back to him now. He bit back another groan.
    Hours had passed, the storm still raged, and she slept beside him, both of them fully clothed under the blankets, in his king-sized bed. Sleep eluded him.
    He turned to his side, away from her. She snuggled closer. “Cold,” she muttered, pressing her body along his. She murmured approval. “Nice. Warm.”
    How many ways and in how many languages could he curse? Maybe if he began, it would stop him from thinking about turning over and having his way with her. “Damn, Pixie,” he grunted.
    She giggled. “I heard that.”
    Griff clamped his eyes shut, counting to ten before he answered. “Go back to sleep.”
    Her non-answer eased his mind; maybe she’d dozed off. But when she put her hand on his side and reached around to rest it on his middle, he sucked in a sharp breath. “Relax,” she soothed. “I don’t bite.”
    “Funny,” he said, trying to remove her hand, but she laced her fingers with his and held it against