The Billionaire's Courageous Lover (Bold, Alaskan Men Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

rains a lot here but…” she sighed, realizing that she was rambling.  She was nervous and she tended to ramble when she was nervous.  And now she was rambling in her mind.  Nervous. 
    Forcing her mind to stop and focus, she looked up at him and tried to smile again.  “No.  I wasn’t going to talk to you in the rain.  That wasn’t my plan.”
    Knox crossed his arms over his chest, unaware of how the movement highlighted the bulging muscles of his biceps and shoulders.  Or how it made her mouth go dry. 
    “Yes, well, maybe this is better,” she said, rubbing her hands together.  “Less embarrassing perhaps.”
    “What’s embarrassing, honey?” he asked gently, seeing that she was pretty wound up about something.  “Have you seen any other bears?”
    She glanced up at his extraordinary, green eyes, then pulled her gaze away from all of those muscles.  “Bears?  Oh, no!  No bears!  Not lately though.  Thanks to you and that gun of yours.”  She smiled brightly.  “Thank you very much and I sincerely apologize for the bear.  He picked a very bad hour of the night to go exploring.”
    He laughed, trying to ease her nervousness, but she was adorable.  She’d just apologized for the bear.  “Apology accepted.  But if the bear ever comes back, he’s going to have to say the words himself.”
    She laughed a bit, but her nervousness came back full force when she realized that she was just procrastinating.  “Bears aside, I was wondering if…”
    She paused and he took the opportunity to interrupt.  “Would you like to come inside?  It’s dryer.  And warmer.”
    She peered around his huge shoulders to the warm interior but there were others inside.  “No.  I don’t think I want witnesses.”
    His dark eyebrows went up with those words.  “Witnesses?  Are you going to shoot me?”
    She blinked up at him, her silver eyes wide with horror.  “Excuse me?” Was he teasing her?  The mischief in his eyes told her that yes, he was very definitely teasing her.  “Oh.  Joke.  Right.”  She laughed, but the sounds was pretty weak. 
    Knox took pity on her and wanted to help her spit out the words.  “Andie, whatever it is you want to tell me, just spit it out and we can move on.  I know what you’re going to say anyway.”  Knox was surprised by how disappointed he was.  He’d been waiting all week for her to call him up and tell him she was getting out of dodge, but his phone had been silent. 
    A part of him had been hoping that she might really make it.  That she could handle the rain and the cold nights even though it kept getting colder.  He’d secretly been hoping she was as strong as she’d said she was.
    Not to mention, all of the locals were coming into The Rotten Apple, talking about how pretty the new English teacher was, how she was really getting the kids excited about reading for once.  She was like a breath of fresh air in the school.
    But he had known that this would happen.  She’d gotten sick of the worry, the rain and the cold.  Some people loved it, thrived on it.  Others struggled with the diminishing daylight and the almost constant rain that would very soon turn to snow as the temperature dropped. 
    He told himself that this was for the best.  Better for her to leave now.  Already, he was driving by her house, making sure things were secure, talking to the school principal to make sure she was fitting in well enough and trying to anticipate problems so that she wouldn’t get hurt in any way. 
    Andie sighed and clasped her hands in front of her nervously.  “You’re right,” she told him and started pacing again.  “I should just spit it out.  I should just say it and if you say no, well, then, I’ll just…maybe get rid of the tennis balls and venture into the basement myself to get the process over with quickly.”
    Knox thought she looked absolutely adorable, in a sexy bunny sort of way.  She was sweet, smart, and sexy…a