Til Death Do Us Part Read Online Free PDF Page B

friends now.”
    â€œThanks. It’ll make my life a lot easier.” J.T. allowed his gaze to follow the lines of her round, firm body, clearly silhouetted by the warm evening sunlight shining in the window and through the thin cotton material of her nightgown. Lord help him, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a more beautiful sight. He grew painfully aroused just looking at her.
    â€œDammit,” he muttered under his breath. That was all he needed—for her to notice his arousal. She’d never call Elena and set things straight. And if he couldn’t pacifyhis sister, he’d just have to leave the ranch. In the twelve years since he’d gone to the reservation and brought Elena home with him, J.T. had grown to care for his half sister more than he’d ever thought he could care for anyone. He knew she meant well, trying to fix him up with Joanna. He couldn’t make her understand that marriage and family life weren’t for everyone.
    â€œHow long has Elena been trying to find you a girlfriend?” Joanna asked.
    â€œOh, she’s not looking for a girlfriend,” J.T. said. “She’s looking for a wife.”
    â€œA wife? And she actually thought that I… I mean, she considered the possibility that you and I—”
    â€œDespite being twenty-seven, Elena is still rather naive. She doesn’t realize that there are a lot of women who cringe at the thought of being married to a half-breed like me.”
    â€œMr. Blackwood, I didn’t mean…” Joanna gazed into his good eye, that golden brown glittering eye, filled with anger and pain and—passion. “Your Navajo ancestry has nothing to do with why I dislike you.” Indeed, his Navajo ancestry beckoned to Joanna, since it was another link, besides the silver-and-turquoise ring, that connected him to Benjamin Greymountain, and to the tender, gentle fantasy man she had dreamed of for over four years.
    â€œI don’t care what you meant or why you dislike me.” He took several steps toward her.
    Unmoving, she held her breath. Reaching out, he stroked her cheek. “You don’t like me, but you want me. Oh, yeah, I’ve known your type before.”
    Without thinking about what she was doing, Joanna lifted her hand and laid it atop his while he caressed her cheek. “No, you haven’t known my type before. You’ve never known anyone like me.” She removed her hand.
    He stared at her for a split second, uncertain whether he could believe her or not. Hell, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to allow Joanna Beaumont to get under his skin. While visiting the ranch, he’d find some way to avoid her or he’d cut short his vacation.
    He grabbed her chin, tilting her face. “Call Elena and get me out of hot water, then I’ll stay out of your way.”
    Joanna nodded. “I’ll stay out of your way, too.”
    He made no reply, just turned, walked to the back door, opened it and left. Joanna stared at the open door for endless moments, then ran across the kitchen and slammed it shut. What right did a man like that have to wear Benjamin’s ring? Benjamin, a man who’d been capable of the deepest, truest, most unselfish love? It was plain to see that J. T. Blackwood didn’t know the first thing about love—real love, the kind Benjamin and Annabelle had shared.
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    A FTER HE’D SPENT several hours tossing and turning, J.T. gave up trying to get any sleep and got out of bed. His grandfather’s bed. Old John Thomas Blackwood. The meanest, orneriest son of a bitch who’d ever lived. The man his father had named him for. The man who had forbidden his only son to marry a dirty Indian. The man who hadn’t acknowledged J.T.’s existence until J.T.’s father had died and left the old reprobate without an heir. The man who’d come to the reservation when J.T. was five and taken him from his