Time of Possession (Seattle Lumberjacks #5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he
drooled all over Richard every chance he got. Who said dogs didn’t
have a sense of humor?
    Her fiancé jumped backward and almost fell
down the front steps. He wrapped his arms around the one of the
posts holding up the porch and clung to it like spider to its web.
Interesting comparison, one she didn’t dare psychoanalyze.
    Straightening and wiping off his shirt, he
stared at the dog. Strings of saliva hung from Dozer’s lips and his
big tail thumped on the wooden porch. The poor guy forced a smile
on his face and reached out a tentative hand. “Nice dog.” Her St.
Bernard happily slimed Richard’s arm. Richard snatched it back and
gaped at the grinning dog.
    Estie gripped Dozer’s collar and pulled him
back. “He adores you, give him a chance. He’ll grow on you.”
    Richard heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I’m
trying. Big animals like that scare me.”
    He didn’t exactly like the small ones
either, but Estie held her tongue. “You just weren’t raised with
them. You’ll learn to love them.”
    “It’s you I love, not a slobbering elephant
that spreads hair around like a…” Richard snapped his mouth shut,
as if realizing he’d said too much.
    “Sit,” Estie ordered. Dozer sat, whined and
shook his head, splattering more drool on Richard’s pants. Not to
be ignored, Marilyn, her old, diva golden retriever, shoved her
nose around her leg to greet their guest. Estie pushed them back
inside the house and slammed the door shut on them. “Sorry, they’re
hungry.”
    Richard tried to ignore them. “Golf with
me.”
    “I’m going to the game. Let’s meet for
dinner afterward.”
    “I have plans.” Richard’s lips tightened
into a thin line. She braced herself for one of his
passive-aggressive guilt trips, only he squared his jaw, turned on
his heel with a dramatic flair, and stomped off. And could that man
stomp.
    With heavy sigh, Estie closed the door and
knelt down to hug her furry friends. Dozer ran his slobbery tongue
across her cheek and panted in her face with his doggy breath.
Marilyn pressed against her side and almost knocked her over. They
gave her comfort, the kind of comfort she’d once received from
Richard, though he’d never been the demonstrative type.
    Not like other men. Not like— her thoughts
detoured to a pair of pale blue eyes and a kind smile. Brett. She’d
been thinking about him more and more. In fact, too much for an
engaged woman. He was just so nice and kind.
    The day her father died her world had
collapsed, burying all her dreams. She’d been daddy’s girl, and
he’d been the only member of the family who’d truly believed in
her.
    He’d died tragically when she’d been in
college, taking with him her rock and her support. She’d spiraled
into a well of grief and despair. Richard swooped in and picked up
the pieces. He’d been there every step of the way, holding her
hand, helping her mother make arrangements, and dragging her
grieving brother out of bars in the middle of the night. As Estie
stumbled blindly through the next several months, he steered her
through the despair and never judged her.
    She’d been a strong-willed woman before her
father’s death, but she’d fallen apart afterward, and Richard had
become the strong one for a time. She couldn’t have made it without
him.
    She owed him her loyalty.
    * * * * *
    Estie settled into her seat in the owner’s
skybox. Binoculars in hand, she lifted them to her face and scanned
the team doing warm-ups on the field below. She spotted Brett
instantly. Even though he was shorter than everyone but the
kickers, he was actually easy to find. He stood in the front of the
group as they went through their pre-game stretches in the same
place Tyler used to stand. She felt a twinge of sympathy for her
competitive brother, who had to hate not being in the game.
    And why the hell was she even seeking out
Brett?
    Her formidable older sister slid into the
seat next to her, a flurry of Lumberjacks Navy parka and