Read After the Music for Free Online Page B

down hard for once. He's only ten years my senior, but he acts as if he were my father."'
    "How old did you say he was?" she asked curiously.
    "Thirty-four."
    "Are you really only twenty-four?" she asked, grinning. "I thought you were at least sixty."
    "Shame on you. Attacking a man who's trying to assist you in a monumental vendetta!"
    "What would I have to do?" she asked, pursing her lips. "Be seen everywhere with me. Especially," he added with a hot grin, "at the ranch. That would kill him."
    "What about your mother? I'd hate to play such a trick on her."
    "Oh, she'd be no problem. She spends most of her time in Europe, especially since our father died ten years ago. Odd thing, Thorn was effortlessly running Thorn Oil at my age. And here am I fighting tooth and nail to keep from being taken over."
    "You're not like him," she said quietly. "And I mean it as a compliment."
    He cocked his head and smiled slightly. "Do you? Most women find him fascinating and wildly sexy."
    "I don't like domineering men," she said flatly. "I can run my own life without being told what to do. I rebelled at an early age."
    "I wish I had. I was too busy learning the oil business at Thorn's knee to fight being overrun." He smiled sheepishly. "Now that I want to cut the strings, I'm finding that they're pretty tough. I don't come into the trust until I'm twenty-five. That gives brother Thorn another year of absolute domination."
    "And then?"
    "Then I'll have a sizable share of stock and enough money to start my own damned oil company, if I feel like it." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. "Help me declare independence. Wear my ring for a few weeks and watch Thorn paw the ground."
    "As long as he doesn't try to paw me," she said with a hearty laugh. "I'd rather take poison."
    He studied her flushed face quietly. "He really got under your skin, didn't he?"
    She shrugged. "It was bad enough at that party. But today was the biggest slap in the face I've had since I was a kid." She looked up. "I'll wear the ring for you. But make it something inexpensive, okay? And something you can return!"
    "Will do!" He chuckled.
    The ring he brought her the following day was an emerald, not too flashy but surrounded with diamonds in a platinum setting. She gasped.
    "Remember that I'm not a poor man," he said before she could protest. "To me, this is an inexpensive ring."
    She slid it onto her finger, shaking her head. "When I think of all the heating bills it would pay for my neighbors..."
    "No," he said. "Absolutely not. You can't hock the ring.
    She laughed delightedly, her eyes sparkling. "I wouldn't, you know. But I feel kind of guilty wearing it all the same."
    "It suits you. Emeralds make your skin look creamy." He hesitated a moment. "Thorn called me."
    She felt her face draw into a scowl as her mood darkened. "Did he?"
    He leaned back in his chair with a drink in hand. "I told him I'd just bought you a ring."
    "What did he say?"
    "I don't know. I hung up in the middle of it." He chuckled. "He was fit to be tied!"
    "When do we leave for the ranch?" she asked apprehensively.
    "Day after tomorrow."
    "So soon?" she murmured, her eyes and voice plaintive.
    "I'll protect you, don't worry," he promised. "We'll only be there a few days. Besides, Thorn doesn't spend a lot of time at the ranch, even on holidays. Especially now."
    "Because of me?" She felt unwanted and nervous as she studied the ring. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea, Al."
    "You can't back out now," he said merrily. "I'll sue you for breach of contract."
    Sabina burst out laughing. "Oh, you," she muttered. Her breasts rose and fell with a heavy sigh. "Al, I'm afraid of him," she admitted softly.
    "Yes, I know." His eyes were calculating. It was the first time he'd ever seen her afraid of any man, and he wondered why. "Sabina, he won't hurt you. Not physically."
    Her lower lip trembled. Hating that tiny betrayal and fearing that Al would notice, she got up from the table. "I'll be