Read Love Me Sweet (A Bell Harbor Novel) for Free Online Page A

here and call my mother in the morning. In the meantime,” his voice dropped and his mossy-eyed gaze met hers, “how about if I make that sandwich for myself and you can entertain me with a story about why you have a backpack full of cash sitting in the closet.”
    All her blood seemed to clot in place, leaving her queasy and breathless. She leaned back, as if she could physically evade the question. “You went into my closet?”
    One light brown brow lifted and he crossed his thick arms. “Technically it’s my closet. Where’d you get that money?”
    Damn it. She’d had a lot more control over the situation when he’d been naked and soaking wet. A man without his pants was a man willing to negotiate, but right now she was the one exposed and vulnerable. She took a big, deep breath. “The money is mine, and I don’t owe you any explanation. That was totally unethical of you to go through my things.”
    He shrugged, broad shoulders flexing under white cotton. “It was an accident, but maybe we should call those police now and we can both talk to them.”
    He was bluffing. What a bluffer!
    Delaney straightened up and stood her ground. “Why would you call the police just because I have my own money? This is none of your business, you know.”
    He tilted his head. “Probably not, but I think I’d sleep a little easier if I knew you weren’t some mobster’s girlfriend who helped herself to all the loot in the casino safe.”
    Her fisted hands went to her hips. “Do I look like a mobster’s girlfriend?”
    Well, that was a stupid thing to ask. She didn’t want him studying her face that way. She may as well pull out the latest edition of Us magazine and show him her picture, although since arriving in Bell Harbor she’d given herself long bangs with a pair of dull scissors and dyed her normally highlighted hair a nondescript brown. With no makeup, she looked a lot different than those stock photos tabloid magazines used for covers. Still, she wished she’d put on her fake glasses. She pulled her new bangs down and over to the side as if that might hide her identity while Mr. Plain White Tee stared. Evaluating. Scrutinizing.
    “No. You don’t look like a mobster’s girlfriend,” he finally said, “but I’m trying to figure out why somebody with that much cash on hand would be renting this old house in Bell Harbor.”
    What the hell was she supposed to say to that?
    Of all the houses in all the towns, she had to go and rent a place that wasn’t really up for rent to begin with, and one that came with a man inside. That was some shit luck. Almost as shitty as having her old boyfriend sell their sex tape to the tabloids. What had she done in a previous life to deserve this particular situation?
    Time to dial up the perky. “Look, I swear the money is mine. I just . . . I wanted a change of scenery so I took all my money out of the bank and decided to do a little traveling, have a little adventure for myself.”
    Wait. Shoot. That was probably a foolish thing to admit. If he had a mind to, he could make her and her money disappear, and no one in her family would ever know what had become of her. Damn it. There sure was a steep learning curve to being on the lam. For instance, is that even what they called it anymore? On the lam? Well, whatever it was called, she wasn’t proving to be very good at it.
    Grant picked up the apple and shined it on his shirt, right over that muscular torso. “You’re looking for adventure? In Bell Harbor? In the middle of winter?” He sounded doubtful, and with good reason.
    Delaney tossed her ponytail in what she hoped was a convincingly carefree manner. “I heard you have good skiing here. But listen, if you can get my rent money back from your mother, I will gladly go elsewhere.”
    That wasn’t entirely true. She’d go elsewhere all right, but she wouldn’t be glad about it. None of the other places she’d looked at had been remotely acceptable, and with her luck,