Read No Better Man for Free Online Page A

time.” Bryce peered over his shoulder as he walked away.
    “I have nothing but time.” She tossed the backpack on the ground, assuming the stance she’d perfected in all of her business negotiations; feet rooted into the floor, hip jutted. Bryce Walker would sell his land. Give her two days with the man. “I’m not going anywhere. I think I’ll hang out and see the sights.” She shuffle-kicked her backpack to the counter. “My flight doesn’t leave until Friday. I’d like to stay here.”
    He laughed, but it was breathless and garbled. “Bad idea. You might ruin your perfect hair.”
    Her hand reached up to pat the curls that kept dipping over her eyes. “No one’s ever accused me of having perfect hair.” Especially when she didn’t bother to straighten it. “But I’ll take that as the highest compliment, coming from you,” she sassed, just in case he could tell he was getting to her. Because he was.
    She’d stood in front of two hundred board members and investors on numerous occasions to articulate good news, bad news, boring news, and never once had her heart drummed like it did when Bryce Walker looked at her. She’d done press conferences for King Enterprises for years, with the media rapid-firing question after question, and not once had she fumbled her words or resorted to the drunk cheerleader laugh. Yet somehow this man managed to make her feel like a silly, socially awkward girl who got all warm and flushed when a member of the opposite sex noticed her. It brought her right back to those memorable junior high days.
    And he was doing it again, the jerk! Staring at her long and hard, as though cataloging a list of her physical features.
    Avery fought a desperate urge to adjust her posture and make her B cups more impressive. She had to get out of there and regroup.
    “So what’s your nightly rate?” She dug through the backpack pockets until she located her wallet.
    “You’re not staying here,” he said in that same voice he’d used to command Moose, low and resolute.
    Except she wasn’t a dog. She didn’t have to obey his commands. “This is a guest ranch, isn’t it?”
    “Was.” Bryce’s jaw set into a hard line and erased the smirk. “It was a guest ranch. No one’s stayed here for two years.” His gaze roamed over her body again.
    Wait a minute. Was he ogling her, too?
    Finally, his gaze made its way back to her eyes, his stare so intense it left her breathless.
    “It won’t be up to your standards,” he muttered.
    She fought for a full, deep breath of air and raised her brows in a challenge. “You’d be surprised.”
    “There’re plenty of five-star resorts in town. Perfect for people like you.”
    People like her. Why did everyone always do that? Assume that she was one of those entitled heiresses who spent her days partying and shopping with her father’s credit card instead of working her ass off? She glared at him. “You don’t know me.” Her father had made sure she knew how to work hard to get what she wanted. Even after all his success, he’d made her work and save every penny until she could buy her first car herself, a 1989 Toyota Corolla with rust creeping up the fenders.
    Unfortunately for Bryce Walker, she’d learned how to scrap and fight to get what she wanted. He hadn’t seen perseverance, didn’t know the true face of stubbornness. She twirled to face him. “A thousand dollars. Will that cover four nights?” She lifted each c-note from her wallet and held them out.
    His eyes focused on the money. “I’m…I haven’t set prices yet.”
    “Good. I’ll help you. Two hundred and fifty a night would be competitive in this area.” Maybe not in its current condition, but something told her he already knew that. She shoved the money into his hand and tried to ignore the glorious pull of her insides when his skin grazed hers. Then she traipsed to the rack of keys dangling on the wall behind the counter and selected one. “I’ll stay in Room 5.