Read The Bargain for Free Online Page A

seemed to hit him much harder than she expected, and she almost felt a little guilty at the stricken look on his face. Almost. After a moment, he nodded tersely. “Yeah, I’ve screwed up a lot with my family. I can’t change the past, though, can I? That’s why the future matters so much.”
    “And the money that house represents means nothing to you.”
    “I don’t need the money. I have my own place, my own business. I didn’t take money from them then, and I don’t want any of it now.”
    It was plausible, she supposed, studying him. Then again, it could be the biggest load of bull someone had ever tried to sell her. If it weren’t for the look she had just seen cross his face, she would have written him off entirely. At the end of the day, though, she didn’t care to be a pawn in any game he might be playing. “Maybe you’re telling the truth, and maybe you’re not. Either way, I really don’t think it’s something I want to get mixed up in.” She bent down to plug the saw back in.
    “Not even for Drew’s sake?”
    She froze at first and then straightened, avoiding his eyes. They saw her feelings for his brother too clearly for her liking and recognized her Achilles’ heel. “I think Drew will be just fine.”
    “Why gamble on that, though? Where’s the harm in just talking to him? I’m just asking you to make the same points with him that I made with you. You could end up saving him from a lifetime of regret. But if he thinks the whole thing through and he’s one hundred percent sure the youth center is still what he wants to do, then … ” He trailed off, and his face betrayed signs of an inward struggle she didn’t understand.
    “Then what?” she persisted, wondering what was really going on inside his head.
    He didn’t answer her immediately, and when he finally did, his answer did nothing to reveal what he was thinking. “Then I guess I’ll have to live with that.”
    That wasn’t enough to satisfy her. “Why?” she asked, making eye contact with him again and staring at him hard this time as if by doing so she would be able to read his mind. “Why is this so important to you? What do you get out of it?”
    “It’s not about me, it’s about Drew.”
    Right. His body practically radiated tension. “Oh, I think it’s a little about you, too.”
    He shrugged, tight-lipped, and she knew she wouldn’t get anything more from him, at least not today. It was tempting to tell him to get lost then, but if she did that, who knew what other avenue he might take with the youth center? If she agreed to do what he asked, she would at least be in the loop if some sort of ulterior motives showed up later.
    Where’s the harm in just talking to him?
    His words echoed in her head. The request seemed harmless enough on the surface. It might even be helpful to Drew, as Michael suggested. And maybe Michael really could help her get Drew to notice her —
    No, no. She wouldn’t let that be a factor in her decision, she decided firmly, trying to ignore the way her heart seemed to beat a little faster at the thought. At least not consciously, she wouldn’t. Drew deserved better than that.
She
was better than that. “Okay,” she said finally, slowly getting the words out and half-wishing she could take them back. “Maybe —
maybe
I believe you’re on the level with all of this.”
    Michael’s head shot up, and the hopeful look on his face actually made her determination to dislike him waver slightly. “So does that mean — ”
    “I don’t know what it means yet,” she said irritably, appalled at the fleeting softness she felt toward him. She was definitely off her game here. “I guess it means I’ll think about it.”
    Suddenly he was right in front of her, making her draw in a sharp breath of surprise. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she wondered with fleeting panic — or was it possibly anticipation? — if he was going to hug her. This was, after all, Michael Kingston, the