The Welcoming Read Online Free PDF

couldn’t think of her as ever being
his
woman.
    He felt the urge for a cigarette again, and this time he deliberately suppressed it. If there was something you wanted that badly, it was best to pass it by. Once you gave in, you surrendered control.
    He’d wanted Charity. For one brief, blinding instant the day before, he had craved her. A very serious error. He’d blocked the need, but it had continued to surface—when he’d heard her come into the wing for the night, when he’d listened to the sound of Chopin drifting softly down the stairway from her rooms. And again in the middle of the night, when he’d awakened to the deep country silence, thinking of her, imagining her.
    He didn’t have time for desires. In another place, at another time, they might have met and enjoyed each other for as long as enjoyments lasted. But now she was part of an assignment—nothing less, nothing more.
    He heard the sound of running footsteps and tensed instinctively. The deer, as alert as he, lifted her head, then sprinted back into the trees with her young. His weapon was strapped just above his ankle, more out of habit than necessity, but he didn’t reach for it. If he needed it it could be in his hand in under a second. Instead he waited, braced, to see who was running down the deserted road at dawn.
    Charity was breathing fast, more from the effort of keeping pace with her dog than from the three-mile run. Ludwig bounded ahead, tugged to the right, jerked to the left, tangled and untangled in the leash. It was a daily routine, one that both of them were accustomed to. She could have controlled the little golden cocker, but she didn’t want to spoil his fun. Instead, she swerved with him, adjusting her pace from a flat-out run to an easy jog and back again.
    She hesitated briefly when she saw Roman. Then, because Ludwig sprinted ahead, she tightened her grip on the leash and kept pace.
    â€œGood morning,” she called out, then skidded to a halt when Ludwig decided to jump on Roman’s shins and bark at him. “He doesn’t bite.”
    â€œThat’s what they all say.” But he grinned and crouched down to scratch between the dog’s ears. Ludwig immediately collapsed, rolled over and exposed his belly for rubbing. “Nice dog.”
    â€œA nice spoiled dog,” Charity added. “I have to keep him fenced because of the guests, but he eats like a king. You’re up early.”
    â€œSo are you.”
    â€œI figure Ludwig deserves a good run every morning, since he’s so understanding about being fenced.”
    To show his appreciation, Ludwig raced once around Roman, tangling his lead around his legs.
    â€œNow if I could only get him to understand the concept of a leash.” She stooped to untangle Roman and to control the now-prancing dog.
    Her light jacket was unzipped, exposing a snug T-shirt darkened with sweat between her breasts. Her hair, pulled straight, almost severely, back from her face, accented her bone structure. Her skin seemed almost translucent as it glowed from her run. He had an urge to touch it, to see how it felt under his fingertips. And to see if that instant reaction would rush out again.
    â€œLudwig, be still a minute.” She laughed and tugged at his collar.
    In response, the dog jumped up and lapped at her face. “He listens well,” Roman commented.
    â€œYou can see why I need the fence. He thinks he can play with everyone.” Her hand brushed Roman’s leg as she struggled with the leash.
    When he took her wrist, both of them froze.
    He could feel her pulse skip, then sprint. It was a quick, vulnerable response that was unbearably arousing. Though it cost him, he kept his fingers loose. He had only meant to stop her before she inadvertently found his weapon. Now they crouched, knee to knee, in the center of the deserted road, with the dog trying to nuzzle between them.
    â€œYou’re