Read Redemption for Free Online Page B

like any other.
    While they held hands, she’d experienced a connection she desperately needed. For nearly two days she’d felt isolated from the world at large, herself and human contact. John returned some of that to her, along with the realization she wasn’t as alone as she’d been thinking. He may not want her here, but he was doing all he could to help her.
    And true to his word, the blizzard stopped later that afternoon. The phone line would take some time to repair, he’d told her, and the cellphone kept dropping his calls. They spent another lazy day in the cabin, but this time she didn’t feel as claustrophobic. This time she kept sliding glances at him hoping… Hoping what? He’d touch her again? He’d reveal a crack in his façade and show a little more emotion?
    She stared out the windows, mainly because the scenery changed whereas the walls stayed the same. She liked to watch the blowing wind create snowdrifts, destroy them and build them back up somewhere else. Now that the wind had stopped, the sun peeked through weak clouds and the snow shimmered like a forest of diamonds, causing her to squint against the beautiful glare. Parts of her car were buried beneath inches of snow while in other places metal poked out of the landscape, marring what she considered picture-perfect scenery.
    “You want to take a look?” John stood with hands shoved deep into his jeans pocket.
    Unable to help herself, her gaze slid over the length of him. Over slim hips, long legs, wide shoulders. He was lean, but well muscled. An outdoorsman compared to a bodybuilder.
    She’d never seen his red gold hair combed. Thick, with a touch of curl at the ends, it was always messy, leaving him with a sexy, just-out-of-bed look. His gaze met hers, navy eyes curious but aloof. He always seemed detached, holding himself at a distance. Was it her or was he that way with everyone?
    She didn’t know if it was disgust at herself for thinking of him in a way other than rescuer or sorrow that she couldn’t penetrate the barriers he’d erected that made her turn back to the window. She had no business thinking of him in that way. After all, she could possibly be married.
    “Let’s go outside,” he said. “No use brooding in here when it’s beautiful out there.”
    She leaned against the rough pine-board wall, a half smile tugging at her lips. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” No heat to his words, just idle curiosity. Did nothing get to this man?
    “It means you’re the king of brooding.”
    “Maybe I have reason to brood.”
    “And I don’t?”
    “Doesn’t mean it’s good for you. I should know, being the king and all.”
    She stared at him for a few moments, arms crossed over the swell of her belly. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
    “You call this nice?” He waved a hand in the air. “Nah.”
    “Yes. I call this nice. At first you didn’t want me here, did you?”
    He looked away. “It wasn’t the right time,” he said.
    “I’m sorry if I ruined any plans you’d made.” With a storm brewing, she wondered what kind of plans he would have had. Unless the reason he hadn’t stocked up on food was because he was leaving and had to stop to save her.
    His jaw muscle ticked and he still wouldn’t look at her. Then he shrugged again and pulled his hands from his pockets. “Let’s take a look at that car of yours.”
    The day may have looked glorious from the inside, but once outside, the cold knocked the breath right out of her. John had given her an old coat of his and her running shoes. He’d been right, they weren’t cheap shoes. She put them on, hoping once again for some flashback. When nothing happened, she fought the disappointment.
    The snowdrifts sometimes came to her knees and she had to step high, falling behind John and using his boot prints as a guide. He dusted the car off with a gloved hand, slowly revealing an old black, rusted Corolla. The