The Heartbreaker Read Online Free PDF Page B

a machinist,” he protested. “Good hands are a plus for that kind of job.”
    â€œThat’s not what you meant by that statement and you know it. I don’t intend to spend two weeks fending you off, Mike Tremayne.”
    â€œDon’t worry. You won’t be fending me off, Beth.”
    â€œGood. Incidentally, how did you come by that jaguar’s tooth?”
    â€œAn old medicine man gave it to me. For good luck. See you tomorrow.” He opened the door and stepped out into the rain. When he reached the driver’s side of the car he looked back at the studio. She might have thought the downpour would conceal the fact that she was standing right where he’d left her. And he couldn’t really see her, but the glow from the candle gave away her position.
    He took courage from that small action, and from the belief that she’d let him kiss her on that night eight years ago because she’d wanted his kiss. And despite the painful mark of her teeth on his lower lip, he suspected that she still wanted it. Of course that didn’t solve anything. The fact remained that he’d jilted her sister.
    Eight years ago he’d been unwilling to put his needs and perhaps even Beth’s needs ahead of that allimportant relationship between the two sisters. But Alana and Beth had grown up, and each had her own business in separate towns. Things had changed. He just wasn’t sure if they’d changed enough.
    He switched on the ignition and turned on the car’s headlights. Then, on a whim, he flashed them off and on again, knowing she was still watching him. He leaned down to see if she would respond with the lantern. The light was gone.

3
    B ETH STOOD IN THE DARK and watched the ruby taillights of Mike’s car as it wound up the hill and out of sight. Hating herself for the impulse, she wanted to throw on her raincoat and follow him. The Tremayne house, a restored little Victorian, wasn’t far up the hill, and after the way Mike had kissed her, she had no doubt of the reception she’d get if she appeared on his front porch. Just imagining it made her liquid with desire.
    She hadn’t been truthful with him in many ways. His exotic travels during the past eight years excited her more than she dared admit. She’d smothered her questions about the places he’d seen, the people he’d known, because having him describe his adventures would make her wish she’d shared them. How he and Alana would have laughed if she’d confessed her secret desire to explore the jungle with Mike, to experience that dark sensual land in the company of the man she loved. She didn’t have Alana’s willingness to challenge the wilderness alone, but with Mike by her side, she’d dare almost anything. Yet Mike had always planned to have those adventures with Alana, and Beth had remained silent when they teased her about her timid nature.
    She’d tried to find a substitute for Mike, someone with whom she’d feel safe to go adventuring. But the biker she’d dated had been crude and unfeeling, and she’d broken off the affair quickly. Her relationship with the professional skydiver had lasted longer, but in the end he’d been too self-absorbed to create the kind of mutual respect she needed. She’d begun to resign herself to a life filled with the company of her artist friends and a satisfying career, but no grand passion for a man.
    Now Mike had walked back into her life and within minutes, he’d created an ache so demanding that she trembled from the effort to conceal her need. She knew if he made love to her it would only be a fling, and still she wanted him. Only one thought kept her from throwing herself into his arms. Alana.
    Beth was pretty sure Alana had never stopped loving Mike. Like Beth, she’d seemed to be searching for his double. Every man she brought home looked something like Mike, and a few even had the same first