Betrayal of the Dove (Men of Action) Read Online Free Page B

area. She had used decorative privacy divider screens to separate areas. She had an office where she balanced the books and paid bills, so she had a deep chocolate wood divider there with decorative lace-like cutouts at the top of the fixture. Then she had an area where she made her jewelry off to the other side of the kitchen area. She put another matching divider there so that her boxes and crates of materials weren’t an eyesore, or a constant reminder that she should be working. Owning Snowflakes in the Desert was wonderful—most times—but she had a bad habit of working seven days a week. When the store wasn’t open she was making new pieces. She needed to find some balance, to get out there and do something more than just work; but if she didn’t work then she didn’t pay the bills and if she didn’t pay the bills then she didn’t have a place to stay. That’s how she rationalized letting everything else fall by the wayside. She was so exhausted come Sundays that she just didn’t feel the need to get out and party. She shrugged, she really was too old for that lifestyle anyway…well, maybe not too old, she admitted to herself.
     
    “I’m curious,” he looked over her place. She would swear he seemed to appreciate what she had done with it. The bedroom was closed off from the kitchen with the same privacy divider, only she had moved it farther away because she liked having more space in the bed area. “Why did you name your store Snowflakes in the Desert ? It’s not a very…common name,” he said as if he were looking for the right word.
     
    “No, it’s not. It’s long and not trendy at all, but I thought it was fitting. No two snowflakes are the same and no two of my jewelry pieces are the same. I make everything by hand and everything is different, even if it’s just moderately changed with stones or colors, or a slight fluctuation in the design, no two pieces are the same. They’re as original as snowflakes.” She smiled, very proud of her work. “Now, if you’re finished showing me what’s wrong with my security can we go back downstairs?”
     
    “You want to put your panties away?”
     
    “Pardon me?” She looked at him trying to figure out what he was talking about until he pointed to her hands and she realized she was still holding a few of the lace panties she had taken down from the bathroom. “Oh,” she blushed. She didn’t put them in the drawer she just placed them on the bed before coming back to where he was. “Okay, let’s go.” She ushered him out of her flat and back down the stairs.
     
    “This light is a death trap,” he told her. “If somebody had snuck in here they could hide up in the shadows and wait for you. There’s less light hitting your door area, and that little alcove between the hall and your stairs is the perfect place for an attacker to lie in wait.”
     
    She nodded. “I hadn’t really thought of that.” Maybe she should have. Her brothers were both always talking about safety and security for their sisters, but she had never really thought of her place as being as accessible as Shane had just showed her it was.
     
    “I’m going to go get some locks for this place so I can put them on before you close up tonight. I don’t like how vulnerable you are here.”
     
    Well now that he had pointed everything out she didn’t like it either. “I’ll get you some cash from the register for it. There’s a home store about fifteen minutes away from here.”
     
    “Don’t bother,” he mumbled. “I said I was getting you better security, not some flimsy excuse for a lock from some standard home store. I’ll take care of this. I just have to go back to my place to get what I need.”
     
    She wasn’t going to argue with the man because first of all, she didn’t think it would do any good. He had made up his mind and he was going to do it whether she wanted him to or not. And secondly, she really did suddenly feel as if her place was a