The Next Mrs. Blackthorne (Bitter Creek Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

honey.”
    Before she could retort, he’d flipped on the back porch light, yanked open the back door and shoved past the screen.
    She was greeted by Clay’s shocked face.
    “This isn’t what it looks like,” she hurried to explain. “I mean, it is, but there’s a—” North’s arm tightened enough to cut off her air, and she realized she’d been about to make the explanation she’d been forbidden to make.
    “Let go of her, North,” Clay said through tight jaws.
    “She’s here of her own free will,” North said. “Find yourself another Mrs. Blackthorne. Jocelyn is mine.”
    Jocelyn’s stomach knotted as she watched Clay’s face twist in a snarl of rage.
    “I don’t believe you,” he said. “Jocelyn would never agree—”
    “I don’t give a damn what you believe,” North interrupted. “Now get off my land.”
    Jocelyn watched Clay’s hands bunch into fists as his feet spread in a fighting stance. Any moment violence was going to erupt. She had to stop this, even if Bitter Creek was forfeit. A piece of land wasn’t worth dying for.
    And then she realized that, of course it was worth dying for. Generations of Blackthornes had died—and killed others—to keep Bitter Creek. Clay wouldn’t hesitate to make the ultimate sacrifice. She had to stop him from doing that.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked brusquely. “How did you find me?”
    “There’s a tracking device in the car in case it’s stolen. I’ve been following you most of the day. What are you doing here, Jocelyn? If this has anything to do with this bastard trying to steal the Bitter Creek Cattle Company—”
    “I’m here for my own reasons, Clay,” Jocelyn said. “You shouldn’t have come.”
    “I…”
    At that moment, North started to release her. She drew a relieved breath and then realized why he’d loosened his hold. His hand eased up to cup her breast.
    She gasped and stared down at the offending gesture. And then looked at Clay, who was already charging North.
    She held up both hands and cried, “Clay! Stop!”
    He barely managed to rein himself in, stopping when her extended hands caught his shoulders. “What the hell is going on, Jocelyn?” he demanded. “I want to know why you’re here.”
    “I came here because I…” She realized that if she didn’t come up with a convincing story, the two men would end up fighting—until one of them was dead. “Last summer Libby introduced me to North and I…I felt something different for him than what I’d experienced with you. With the wedding coming up—and after the way you shut me out this morning—I…I wanted to see if what I felt was real.”
    “What are you saying?” Clay asked.
    She saw the hurt on his face, proof that he believed the lie she was concocting. She couldn’t say more, afraid of closing all doors to reconciliation when September came. “I can’t marry you, Clay. Not right now. I need to find out—”
    “He won’t ever love you, Jocelyn,” Clay said. “He’s incapable of love. Like all his kind. He’ll only use you, hurt you. For your sister’s sake, come home with me, please.”
    The invocation of her sister’s name was like a stab to the heart. Jocelyn was not so hysterical that she didn’t realize what Clay had failed to say. That he loved her. That he would cherish her. But they’d never said those three words to each other. They’d simply been understood.
    Now she might never hear Clay say “I love you.” Or be able to say those precious words to him. Why had she waited? Ever since her sister’s illness, she’d been aware that time was fleeting. She put a fist to her chest to counter the hurt inside.
    “I have to stay, Clay,” she said. “I need to know if…if I’m making the right choice.”
    “I won’t take you back when he’s done with you,” Clay shot back.
    Jocelyn’s vision blurred and her nose pinched with tears. “I’m sorry, Clay. I have to stay.”
    “You heard her, Blackthorne. Get