Betraying Innocence Read Online Free Page B

have been weird, but it only managed to somehow up his sex factor. God was there nothing wrong with this guy?
    “Are you suggesting I should be doing that with you ?”
    “I did not say that!” She gasped, horrified. Her gaze darted to the bored girl over his shoulder, hoping she wasn’t the type prone to fits of jealous rage at the thought of another girl homing in on her territory. Ana was pretty sure she would lose. She turned her attention back to the boy. “Okay, listen, you need to just get dressed and then go. Preferably in that order.”
    Rather than agree or make a move to do as she asked, his head cocked to the side and he squinted at her. “Are you usually this skittish or is it just me?”
    Heat prickled up the length of her neck and flooded her face. “ I am not skittish! And if it seems like I am it’s because I have naked weirdoes lurking behind my bushes doing … doing what you were doing where you shouldn’t be doing it!” Her gaze lingered over his exposed torso, the depths of his shadowy eyes, the way his dark hair tumbled, long and bedraggled over his brow. Nope, the guy was definitely not hard to look at.
    He took a step back from her, hands up in front of him. Although there was no grin on his face, the gesture was complacent and mocking. A silver studded belt glinted in his grasp and she wondered if that was the silver thing she’d mistaken for a knife earlier, because this guy didn’t need a weapon to get what he wanted. He was dangerous enough without one.
    “ There’s no need to get hysterical, sweetheart.”
    No… need… to… get … hysterical?
    Ana followed his retreating step before she could stop herself, stopping short of trampling on his feet. She knocked her head back to glower up into his shadowed face and stabbed him in the chest with her index finger. The jab may have hurt her more than it hurt him, but it felt good and satisfying.
    “You’re creeping around my backyard , scaring the hell out of me, manhandling me and you’re telling me not to get hysterical?”
    “Ow! Ease up!” Jerk actually chuckled! “ I bruise easily.” He laughed harder when she bared her teeth. “Chill. We’re going.”
    Wary at his easy compliance, Ana watched him as he stalked back to the clump of bushes. He swooped down at the waist and snatched something up off the ground. Ana guessed it was his shirt, because he tossed it carelessly over his shoulder and walked casually to his date. The blonde perked up now that she had his undivided attention once more. She snuggled like a lost puppy into his side when he slung an arm around her shoulders.
    “ Oh, and for the record, tigress.” He turned his head back and smirked at her. “You’ll know when I manhandle you. Very few girls ever complain.” Then he was stepping over the fallen fence and moving towards the house on the other side.
    “My name isn’t tigress!” Ana flung at his retreating back in a pathetic attempt at having the last word. But he managed to win even that as his low, husky chuckle filled the air.
    By the time Ana trudged back to her room, crawled under the covers and urged herself to sleep, she’d already forgotten all about the mysterious figure by the pond. She couldn’t even remember why she’d been out there in th e first place. The only thoughts dancing in her dreams were those of her new neighbor.

    “We have rats,” Ana said the next morning. “I heard them in the walls last night.”
    Mom and Dad were both sitting at the cluttered island, talking in low murmurs when Ana stumbled her way into the kitchen. Dad had one hand curled around a coffee mug, the other rested lightly on Mom’s. Both glanced up when she entered the room.
    “Rats?” her mother asked, horrified.
    “Are you sure?” Dad said. “These old houses just make noises sometimes.”
    “They were scurrying behind the walls.” Ana said, shuffling to the fridge before realizing there was nothing inside. She turned to her parents. “Is