Come Hell or High Desire Read Online Free Page B

something entirely
     different now. Butterflies began a mass migration from the pit of her belly to her
     chest.
    He cleared his throat.
    Right. Her turn to speak. “Call you. Sure thing. Bye now.” She turned to walk back to her
     SUV.
    “What about the rhino?”
    She stopped mid-stride. Lord, thunder, and Jesus. She hadn’t made such a dolt of herself in front of a guy since the tenth grade when
     she’d tripped on her prom dress and landed in the punch bowl. She’d sworn off high
     heels for the most part since then. Besides, towering over your dates didn’t do much
     for their egos.
    But when she turned around to face Zack, she realized this wouldn’t be a problem with
     him. Standing in her wear-once-in-a-blue-moon three inch espadrilles, she matched
     up mouth to mouth with him. Her eyes dropped lower. From the contours of his black
     T-shirt, she discerned powerful shoulders and a solid chest that made her fingers
     itch.
    Yummy.
    A dog yipped. She jumped like a teenager caught in the backseat, and Zack’s grin stopped
     her heart for a split second. Then he turned to catch up to the neighbor lady with
     the stupid pooch.
    Sloane brought her hands to her hot cheeks and watched his spectacular ass jog across
     the lawn. Ms. Pink Polyester tugged the leash, nearly air walking the dog in her hurry
     to return inside. Sloane looked at her SUV longingly, but she had to retrieve the
     rhino first, deal with Benjamin second, and hopefully somewhere down the line launch
     Project Broken Wings.
    Maybe in the process of helping others, she could mend herself, too.
    She cut across the lawns to catch up. She’d ask his permission to go inside, get the
     rhino, then split.
    “Excuse me, ma’am. Mrs. Bailey, right? I remember your excellent oatmeal cookies from
     when I helped Ann move. I’m Zack Goldman.”
    The woman stopped abruptly and the dog rammed its nose into her calf. Her faded blue
     eyes beamed. “Why, thank you, but call me Agnes.”
    While Zack and Agnes talked, Sloane couldn’t help looking at Ann’s portico again.
     All the cheerful flower pots couldn’t dispel the unease emanating from the house.
     Particularly the door.
    Leave now.
    Oh, she wanted to, but without Benjamin’s backing, she’d have to put the foundation
     on hold. Find another sponsor. There was one other possible benefactor, but he didn’t have nearly the resources Benjamin did.
    She rubbed her forehead. She’d finally been able to put the past behind her and had
     been making all the right choices. Because her store was her passion, the people who
     worked for her were more than overhead. She hired deliberately, carefully, and made
     an effort to really get to know her people.
    People first.
    Problem was, this time the ideology seemed to be calling upon her gift.
    Why? She couldn’t help anyone. Not like her mother who worked with the FBI. Oh, no. Hers was a broken gift with the power to hurt, not heal
    And the closer you are to me, the more you stand to lose.
    She peered at Ann’s door once more, then started toward her vehicle. She’d find an
     excuse for Benjamin and get the rhino later because even if the door handle could
     tell her where Ann had been going, what would she tell Zack? Hey Zack, Ann went to such-and-such place, and this is how I know…?
    The skin on her neck burned. Chest, too. Please no hives this time. Almost to the car.
    There was no way she could do this. That door would have to keep its secrets. She
     closed her eyes as guilt and relief warred within.
    “Sloane.”
    Startled, she thrust a hand out to steady herself, touching the metal door handle
     of Zack’s truck. In an instant, her peripheral vision grayed, and she was sucked into
     another dimension. She tried to hold on to reality, imagining a bright pulse of light
     rapidly enveloping her body like a white blood cell encasing a virus.
    But it was too late. Contact with the door had been made before she could seal the
     protection shield.
    A