Read No Better Man for Free Online

rose with as much grace and dignity as she could muster. Business. She was here on business. “Listen.” She stitched her lips into a professional smile and faced the man directly. “I’d really like to speak with Mr. Walker. We have things to discuss. So if you wouldn’t mind—”
    “What’d you say your name was?”
    “Avery. King.” She enunciated each syllable just in case he had a hearing problem.
    His mouth cemented into a straight line and concealed any hint of emotion. He stared at her like she was a mark on the wall, annoying but at the same time insignificant. “Bryce isn’t here.”
    After all that? After he’d tortured her with those omniscient stares? Bryce wasn’t even around? Anger pricked her face, but she gazed right into that man’s eyes and matched his indifference in her own expression. “When will he be back?”
    A smirk dimpled those stubbled cheeks. “Dunno.”
    Her hands fisted. “Listen, Mr.…?”
    “Trust me. You’re wasting your time.” He leaned against the counter, all casual and unaffected, damn him. “You’re not getting his land.” Those unreal eyes looked down on her as he secured his ultimate fighter arms over his chest.
    She diverted her gaze to the wall behind him. He really needed to stop with the bulging muscles. It was kind of distracting. “Fine. That’s fine.” Glancing around the room, she spotted a rickety hardback chair in the corner. “I’ll wait for him to come back.” She held her head high, marched to the chair, and sat herself down.
    “He won’t be back today.” Heavy footsteps punished the old floorboards. Brown work boots emerged in her peripheral vision.
    She crossed her legs all ladylike and studied her nails.
    “You can’t wait here. I’m about to tear out the floors.”
    Gazing up through her eyelashes, she blinked sweetly. “Then I’ll wait outside. On the porch.” Though she’d hate to miss this man doing some manual labor…
    He muttered something she couldn’t hear and marched closer. “The day I sell my land to your daddy ”—his tone mocked her—“is the day hell freezes over. Last I heard it was still all fire and brimstone.”
    “Wait.” She shot off the chair. “The day you sell?” He’d totally played her. Nobody ever played her. “You’re Bryce.”
    A slow smile spread across his face.
    They resumed their staring contest, but this time it was different. So. Different. This man, the one who’d done things to her body without even touching her, was the man she had to negotiate with? He owned the ranch?
    “Disappointed?”
    Disappointed? Hadn’t he noticed her ogling him? Oh, lordy, hopefully not. “Of course I’m not disappointed.” No woman with any sense of desire could be disappointed in a specimen like him. “You’re just…not what I expected.” The lodge had been built in the fifties, so she’d pictured someone with gray hair and a limp. She’d pictured the mountain man aged like good cognac. Not a mountain cowboy fantasy, all dark and brooding and completely irresistible. He’d totally caught her off guard.
    “Anyway, Miss King. Like I said, I’m not interested.” He stepped closer. “So you might as well go back home.”
    He stood so close she could smell cedar and sweat, so close she could see the ridges and lines in his lips. Wow. He had nice lips. Smooth and pliable…
    Her throat knotted. She had to stop thinking about his lips. His lips were not helping her with this negotiation…
    “Tell your daddy to find another place to build his swanky resort. Try Telluride.” Bryce dodged past her and headed for an open door behind the counter.
    “Hold on.” She shook herself out of a swooning shiver and chased him. “I’m not leaving until you hear me out. It’s a generous offer.”
    “Won’t be generous enough.”
    “You haven’t even seen it.” She snatched her backpack off the floor and rifled through until she found the printout. “If you’ll—”
    “You’re wasting your