A Solitary Heart Read Online Free Page B

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    student, and in his place sat a sheepish little boy. Sian had seen
    Joshua through Matt's eyes, and she hadn't appreciated the
    experience. Matt might feel responsible for his younger brother, but
    he was not Joshua's father and could not take the place of that man,
    who had died some years ago.
    She quickly and efficiently put her hair back into a sleek french
    braid, then left her friend's apartment. Sian, Jane, Jane's boyfriend
    Steven, and Joshua were going to Lake Michigan for the day, and she
    was determined to enjoy the holiday as much as possible.
    Chances were that, after her impassioned speech last night, Joshua
    would be scared off from proposing for good. His older brother
    would have gone back to Chicago some time this morning, and that
    would be that. The whole situation was simple, really, just a storm in
    a teacup in the cosmic scope of things, and Sian could get back to her
    uncomplicated life. By the time she had driven back to her own
    place, she had firmly resolved to put the annoying Matt Severn out of
    her mind.
    The original plan had been that everybody would help clean up, then
    take off to the Indiana Dunes in two cars. But when Sian went
    through the back gate, the garden was already clean and tidy. She
    looked around in surprise. All the signs of the party were cleared
    away and several full black plastic bags were piled neatly by the
    kitchen door.
    The apartment was similarly neat and, after last night, echoed with
    emptiness. The muted sound of the shower came from the direction
    of the bathroom. Shaking her head in bemusement, for Jane had
    never before shown such initiative for housekeeping, Sian travelled
    down the hall and put a hand on the doorknob of her bedroom.
    The door opened inwards, and it was not propelled by her. Caught off
    balance and still in motion, she collided with a very large body. Two
    hands shot out to grip her arms; her own, outstretched, splayed flat on
    a lean bare torso. For one sulphurous moment she felt surprisingly
    silken skin, the sinuous rippling of hard abdominal muscle, and she
    snatched her hand back as if she'd been burned while staring wide-
    eyed up into Matt Severn's tough, formidable face.
    She gasped, as her world tilted, 'You!'
    'Me!' agreed Nick mockingly, his hazel gaze snapping with some
    volcanic emotion.
    His hands were large and warm, and curled easily around the
    circumference of her upper arms. He shifted them down to her
    elbows, and the sensation of those callused palms sliding along her
    sensitive skin was so shockingly intimate that she recoiled violently.
    'What are you doing here in my room?' she demanded, feeling
    exposed and invaded.
    'Making the bed,' he said. Then, at her furious glare, he added with a
    careless shrug, 'I had to sleep somewhere, didn't I?'
    Sian looked around a broad, tanned shoulder at the neat peach-
    coloured bedspread. It looked just as she had left it the day before,
    but a mental image of his long male body stretched out between her
    sheets, his rather long tawny hair spilling on to the pillow, produced
    the strangest reaction in the pit of her stomach. Swallowing hard and
    frowning fiercely, she muttered, 'Why didn't you just go home?'
    'Temper,' he chided, then moved with silent, menacing deliberation to
    shut the door behind her. When she made an involuntary, protesting
    movement, he turned to lean against the panels, blocking the exit. 'I
    was over the drinking limit. You wouldn't have wanted me to cause a
    car accident, would you?'
    'No, of course not!' she snapped, throwing her bag down on the floor
    in an impetuous gesture, inwardly struggling against a deep sense of
    unease at how he had trapped her into this confrontation.
    His searing gaze was like two gold coins; he was as angry as he had
    ever been with her yesterday, Sian saw, and she was bewildered, for
    surely the break from hostilities should have cooled things down.
    'Where did you sleep, darling, and with whom?' he queried silkenly.
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