Challenging Andie Read Online Free Page B

ground under her feet.
    “I’ll just find the key.”
    Ryan left her standing on the doorstep of a cottage smothered in some sort of red-leaved creeper. He picked up flowerpots and looked under them, apparently without any luck, if the curse words he muttered were any indication.
    “She said third.”
    Ryan darted her a glance. “Right.”
    As he stooped, the denim of Ryan’s jeans pulled tight against his rear. Andie felt her cheeks heat in a flush. It was hardly polite to be checking him out. She glanced away. It wasn’t anything personal, it was just reflex .
    She bit her lip as a little voice inside disagreed. Right . It might be reflex to check out a man surreptitiously, but it wasn’t reflex to have your heart bounce around like a tennis ball in your chest in response. There was nothing reflex about that.
    He scrabbled under a large blue glazed pot. “Got it.”
    Straightening, he looked at her strangely. No doubt because of the flush that she could feel painting her firehouse red again. “You okay?”
    “Of course.” What was it they said? Something about the best form of defense being a good offence? She lifted her chin, and strode in through the door he swung open.
    Dust motes danced in the air. The front door opened straight into a bright sitting room. Andie breathed in the musty scent. It had obviously been closed up for a while.
    Ryan strode to the window and jerked it open. “There’ll be nothing in the fridge, but Brianne always has coffee and whitener. She can’t function without it.” He grinned and walked into a small room leading off the sitting room. “Found it. Do you want a cup?”
    “Yes.” Andie glanced around the room, building a mental picture of the elusive Brianne with every glance. Color . The woman was obviously all about color. The walls were painted a warm yellow, and a large portrait of a pre-Raphaelite beauty hung over the fireplace. A basket of logs sat next to the grate, and a brightly patterned rag rug covered the polished floorboards.
    “She only uses this place at weekends.” Ryan walked through with two mugs of coffee. “It’s her bolt hole.”
    “Must be nice to have friends like her,” Andie said. She had plenty of friends she could call on in a crisis. They’d all been there for her since her mother’s death, and she knew they wouldn’t hesitate to offer their homes to her if she asked.
    Somehow the thought of Ryan having a female friend he was so close to set a niggle of disquiet in her stomach. Maybe this stranger was the one he’d meant when he’d joked he was frightened of marriage.
    Ryan set the mugs on the coffee table.
    Andie picked up a framed photograph from the mantelpiece.
    A couple stood smiling into the camera. Ryan, with his arm around a smaller woman whose hair was cut in a smooth, pixie-like cap, rather like Audrey Hepburn’s. Her wide smile lit up the photograph.
    “Is this her?”
    Ryan walked over and took the picture out of her hands. “Yes, that’s us a couple of years ago.” A fond smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he looked down at it. “She’d just finished her exams. We were celebrating.”
    A stab of jealousy pierced Andie. “She won’t mind you bringing a friend here?” She meant woman friend, but managed to avoid saying it.
    Ryan frowned at her. “Why would she?” He replaced the frame on the mantelpiece again. “Bri’s always happy to share.”
    Happy to share? Was he serious? No woman alive was happy to share. Any man who even thought… Andie crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not happy to share. I bet she isn’t either. Anyway, we won’t be going there, so I guess it doesn’t matter.” She looked away, annoyed for actually caring just how he led his life.
    Ryan tilted her face up to his. “What the hell are you talking about?”
    “If you care about someone…” Andie started.
    “Oh, Christ!” A huge smile transformed Ryan’s face. “You think I’m talking about the two of you sharing