The Black Sheep and the Princess Read Online Free PDF Page B

clarity, that the one thing she’d ached for, yearned for, fantasized about, all those hot summers ago, was finally about to happen…eighteen years too late. Donovan MacLeod was finally going to put his hands on her. And she wasn’t going to be able to let him.
    â€œGood night, Mac.” She stared steadily back at him, or as steadily as she could manage, willing him to step back and allow her entrance to her own damn cabin.
    He didn’t so much as budge. “It’s good seeing you again, Kate. I didn’t think it would be.” For the first time, amusement filtered into those eyes of his, and his mouth curved ever so slightly into a ghost of the cocky smile of his youth.
    Her legs felt a little loose and wobbly. And her pulse jack-rabbited ahead with an abandon she couldn’t control. Dammit, but she wanted him to touch her. Foolish and stupid. He was right. She hadn’t changed at all. “Thanks.” She fought a sudden urge to smile. “I think.” It would be dangerous to let her guard down with him. Even for a split second. While she couldn’t really imagine him working with Shelby—there had never been any love lost between the two—his sudden appearance on the same day Shelby had pulled a no-show was too much of a coincidence to dismiss it out of hand.
    â€œI’m sorry I startled you,” he said. “I didn’t know how else to get in touch.”
    â€œYou could have left a note.”
    There was that little quirk again, at the corners of his mouth. Better not to look at his mouth. God, she was looking at his mouth.
    â€œI could have done a lot of things.”
    Was it her imagination still running wild, or had there been something suggestive in that? She dragged her gaze from his firmly chiseled lips—age had only improved every rugged inch of him—to his eyes. Eyes that had seen too much, more than she’d ever likely know. All that mattered was they probably saw way too much in hers.
    â€œYou, uh—” She had to clear her throat. “You staying in town? Maybe we’ll grab a bite at Deenie’s, talk all this out.”
    â€œDeenie’s place is still there, huh?”
    She frowned a little. “I thought you said you’d done some research.”
    â€œOn you,” he answered directly, apparently having no idea how badly he was unsettling her. Or maybe he did, and just enjoyed it. Lord knew he always had in the past. “I could give a damn about the town.”
    â€œWell, the town has a lot to do with things. Or might. I don’t know.” She sucked in a breath and tried a tight smile. “Tomorrow, then?”
    â€œTomorrow.”
    She glanced at the cabin door, wanting badly to be on the other side of it, with something, anything, between them. She needed to regroup. She needed wine. A lot of wine. “Good night.”
    Still, he didn’t shift away, didn’t let her past. But he made no move closer. For the longest moment, he simply held her gaze, trapped it in his own, and kept it there while he studied and probed. He never dropped his gaze below her own, and yet she felt thoroughly…frisked. She wanted to fold her arms over her chest, hide her reaction to him. She didn’t dare move a muscle.
    â€œI can help you,” he said quietly. “You’d be wise to let me.”
    â€œTomorrow,” she said firmly, if somewhat breathlessly. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
    â€œGood night, Kate.”
    It wasn’t until he shifted back, putting some semblance of space between them, that she let out the breath she’d been holding. She reached past him for the door, determined to end this little tête-à-tête right now. Before she did something even more reckless than letting him get that close to her. Like inviting him in for a glass of wine.
    â€œGood night.” She opened the door, forcing herself to do it calmly, naturally, when