Bounty Hunter Read Online Free Page B

salvaged fairly easily. But the rest is a loss without major work.”
    She appreciated his bluntness almost as much as the change of topic. “I won’t need
     much room. Fix what you can and I’m sure it’ll be fine.” For some reason she decided
     not to tell him that she wasn’t planning on staying long enough to make a complete
     overhaul of the barn worthwhile.
    She started as his chair scraped across the uneven flooring. Kane stood and carried
     his plates to the counter. She watched as he primed the small pump by the sink, momentarily
     too caught up in the play of muscles in his arm and shoulder to tell him to stop.
    He turned back to her before she could look away. “If you’re done, I’ll be glad to
     wash these.”
    She sensed it would be important to a man like Kane to pull his own weight, but the
     kitchen felt suddenly stifling, more intimate than cramped, and she couldn’t see herself
     standing close to him, drying dishes as he washed. She quickly stood. “Thanks, but
     really, it’s not necessary. I would’vebeen washing these anyway. A few more won’t take much longer.”
    He seemed about to say something, then apparently thought better of it, because he
     handed her the dishtowel. “Thank you for the meal. Will you be picking berries again
     tomorrow?”
    “Only in the morning. I plan to cook all afternoon.”
    “Won’t it get hot in here?”
    “I’d rather be in here cooking than outside in the heat of the day.”
    “You were out there today.”
    “I know, but I needed to get enough berries to get a head start tomorrow.”
    “And I made you dump half of them.”
    She waved away his concern. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where those came from.”
     He started to say something else, but she cut him off. “Really. With what I get in
     the morning, I’ll have more than enough to start. I really can’t handle more until
     I have more room.”
    “I’ll let you know as soon as I make some headway.”
    “Fine.”
    He paused, and for a long moment, Elizabeth didn’t know what to do or say.
    “If you don’t mind, I’ll take a look in here when you’re out in the fields tomorrow,
     see what I can repair.”
    Kane. Alone in her house? “I’d really rather have you work on the—”
    “I’ll get the barn done. But this house looks as if it hasn’t been lived in for decades—”
    “It’s been twenty-five years.”
    “Well, if this room is anything to go by, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having a few
     things repaired. Consider it thanks for feeding me.”
    “But you’re already earning—”
    “My room by fixing your barn,” he finished. “I’ll earn the rest in here.”
    Elizabeth couldn’t stop the shiver from racing lightly over her skin as images she
     had no right visualizing persisted in crowding into her brain. The sensation ceased,
     but the mental pictures left her skin damp. She wanted to pluck at her shirt, but
     didn’t dare draw his attention to her sudden discomfort.
    “Fine,” was all she could manage.
    He tilted his head in a brief nod. The next moment, she was standing alone.
    Perversely, now that she’d gotten what she wanted, she wished she’d kept him talking
     longer. She turned to the dishes with a sigh.
    And later that night, when she slid into her grandmother’s lumpy feather bed, she
     worked hard to shut out images of Kane wandering through her house.
    If dreams were any indication, she was less than successful.

    The muscles in Kane’s shoulders burned as he bent his weight against the stubborn
     plank. With a loud grunt and a mighty yank, Kane snapped the board off. The resounding
     crack echoed throughout the barn.
    “Figures the only boards I have to pull are the ones the termites left behind,” he
     grumbled as he tossed the scrap in the growing heap behind him.
    He’d found a pile of rusty tools in the small shed beside the barn. They were very
     outdated, but functional. And thanks to Cloud Dancer and her insistence