The Heartbreaker Read Online Free PDF

weeks.”
    â€œOkay.”
    He let out a long breath. “Thanks. I know it will mean a lot to Dad.”
    â€œThat’s the only reason I’m doing it, Mike.”
    â€œI know.” But he wasn’t totally convinced. There was still the matter of the stained-glass version of their kiss. In his eight years of moving among people who spoke no English, he’d become good at picking up nonverbal cues. The stained-glass piece was the biggest one he’d ever seen.
    â€œI hope I won’t live to regret this,” she added.
    â€œAt least I won’t have to worry about regrets,” he said.
    â€œOh? Why not?”
    â€œIf I screw this up, you’ll probably kill me.”
    A gleam of resolve he remembered very well lit her eyes. “I will. Slowly, and with great relish.”
    He gazed down at her and thought about the first sweet taste of her lips a few moments ago, before she’d bitten him. And despite the sting in his lower lip, he wanted to kiss her again. He controlled the impulse. “Guess I’d better go up to the house and get some sleep. I’ll make an early-morning run to Tucson to see Dad and tell him we’re all set, but I should be back before noon. Maybe you can come by the shop during your lunch break and we’ll go over the cutter design.”
    â€œAll right.” She hesitated. “Listen, maybe we should set some ground rules.”
    Apparently she realized he’d nearly kissed her again. “Whatever you say.”
    â€œYou can think what you like about that piece I created, but it means nothing. Don’t get any funny ideas.”
    He considered arguing with her and decided against it. “Understood. But I am curious about something. Has Alana seen The Embrace? ”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd what did she think of it?”
    â€œShe doesn’t really pay much attention to my work. It’s not her thing. She saw it and said something like hey , that’s different . I told her it was a fantasy couple, and she never mentioned it again. She doesn’t know what happened between us that night, and I’ve never told her.”
    Mike wasn’t so sure that Alana was clueless, especially when he considered the pressure she’d put on him that night to make love. “I’m amazed she didn’t figure out what she was looking at. That’s the exact color of your hair, and you had on a red dress that night.”
    â€œShe’s probably forgotten about the red dress, and it would never occur to her that I’d have allowed you to kiss me. Besides, if I hadn’t been drinking champagne at the rehearsal dinner, it wouldn’t have happened.”
    So that was the lie she’d been telling herself, he thought. “Are you trying to say you were too smashed to think straight?”
    â€œWell, not exactly, but my inhibitions were pretty much gone.”
    â€œYou couldn’t have been very drunk, Beth. You recreated every detail exactly, even that green-and-blue silk jacket I was so proud of.”
    â€œArtists remember those sort of things.”
    Or women in love? He couldn’t—or wouldn’t—accept her dismissal of the work’s significance. Not yet, anyway. “If you say so.” He pushed away from the counter. “Well, guess I’ll take off.”
    â€œLet me light your way out.” She picked up the lantern and started toward the door. “These wrought-iron stands can be tipped over if you’re not careful as you walk by.”
    â€œWhich is a diplomatic way of saying I’m like a bull in a china shop?”
    â€œI don’t remember you having a reputation for graceful movement.”
    â€œMaybe not, but you have to admit I’ve always been good with my hands.”
    She paused. “I thought we’d agreed on ground rules.”
    â€œWhat did I say?”
    She glanced at him, her eyebrows lifted.
    â€œYou’re hiring me to be