Unlikely Love: A Hot, Romantic Suspense Series: Book 1 (The Carlisle Sisters) Read Online Free PDF

remained silent.
    They’d walked about a mile when the trees opened to reveal a small lake with a waterfall at one end of it.  Beth caught her breath and ran to the water’s edge.
    “It’s beautiful,” she exclaimed.
    “I thought you would like it,” he grinned.
    “Like it?  I love it.  It’s magical,” she said as she flung her arms wide and twirled around.
    “You don’t remember this place?”  he asked.
    She frowned as she tried to remember.  It did seem familiar but the memory was vague.  She looked toward the woods and saw a cottage.
    “Buddy Long’s place,” she announced.
    “Correct,” he smiled.
    “We used to come here to swim until Jonas forbade it.  He and Buddy became mortal enemies over a poker game; a game in which Jonas won a large portion of Buddy’s land,” she recalled.  “Buddy accused Jonas of cheating.  And Jonas probably had been but Buddy hadn’t been able to prove it.  Is Buddy still here?”
    “No.  He died a year before Jonas.  But I know the whole story of the poker game, believe me.  And before Buddy died, Jonas wanted to purchase what was left of his land, as well, so he could expand The Sea View even further.  But that’s the last thing Buddy wanted.  He still loathed Jonas for cheating him out of the rest of his property all those years earlier and wasn’t willing to give him anymore of it.  He wanted it to be preserved,” he said.  “As it happens, Buddy left a will citing me as his beneficiary.  He knew that I loved this place and would never sell it to Jonas or develop it myself.”
    “I bet that made Jonas madder than a bobcat caught in piss fire,” she laughed.
    He laughed.
    “You may have left Texas, girl, but Texas has not left you,” he grinned.
    She laughed too.
    “The Texas phrase just fit,” she chuckled.  “So you own this land?”
    “Yes.  I fell in love with the property the first time I saw it.  I stumbled onto it while out for a walk one day and Buddy and I just hit it off.  We’d talk for hours about hiking and fishing and, of course, about protecting the property,” he said.  “He knew I loved it as much as he did and that I would safeguard it.”
    “I’m glad you will not develop it. It should remain the beautiful, unspoiled land that it is,” Beth said.
    He caught her hand.
    “Come.  I want to show you the cottage.  I’ve had it remodeled,” he said.
    They stepped onto the newly repaired wooden porch and he slipped his key into the lock.  He pushed the door open and ushered her in.  Beth looked around in wonder.  She remembered a shabby, dark interior that was sparsely furnished when Buddy was alive.  But that was hardly the case now.
    She walked around the place in awe.  The walls had been painted a cream color and there was brown crown molding in every room.  The wall of the small, confining kitchen had been blown out to create an open concept.  There was now a dining room and three bedrooms with a small bathroom attached to each.  The kitchen opened out to a small terrace with a view of the trees and valley beyond.  It was the perfect cottage and Beth loved it.  She turned to face Grey.
    “This is fabulous.  I would love to—
    She stopped speaking abruptly.  She did not want him to think that she was angling to stay there.
    “Live here?”  he finished her sentence.
    She moved back to the living room to put space between them.
    “I was not trying to suggest anything.  I just think this is a lovely cottage and you should be proud of it,” she explained.
    “I am proud of it.  And I’m willing to let you live here if you need a place to stay.  Do you?”  he asked.
    Beth did want to move out of the hotel but she had promised Tracy that she would try to get along with Jen.  And staying with her sisters promoted that effort.  But she was beginning to feel stifled and Jen really was getting on her last nerve with her whining.  To be able to live there would be heavenly.
    “Beth?”