Hard to Hold (True Romance) Read Online Free Page A

more attention than he had the first time.

Three

    “ S IRUS, NO !”
    Michael slid the box of CDs he’d just lifted back onto the flatbed of his father’s truck and yanked tight on the leash he’d tucked into his pocket. His sixty-five pound Weimaraner, thrown into hyperdrive by something interesting on the other side of the vehicle, tugged until Michael’s shoulder ached. The sensation of her narrow tail wagging so hard and fast he suspected it might start rotating and lift her up like a helicopter, sliced at the thigh of his jeans. With the frigid February air already biting through the denim, the pain was more than a little annoying.
    “Sirus, heel!”
    He was just about to mutter a frustrated (yet utterly without conviction) curse of “Stupid dog,” when he heard a distinctly feminine voice say, “Michael?” from the other side of the curb.
    One solid yank on the leash and Sirus fell into an obedient sit. She panted, still excited to meet whoever had spotted him outside his new apartment. He was curious to find out who it was, too. The voice sounded familiar. He hadn’t expected to see anyone he knew while he transferred the contents of his life to his new home. Particularly no one of the female persuasion.Yet when he caught sight of the woman, he suddenly understood his dog’s enthusiasm. Bundled up in the most ridiculous green wool scarf and hat he’d ever seen—and looking entirely breathtaking in it— was Anne Miller.
    “Anne, wow, hi.”
    Though he’d been in Albany for months, he hadn’t run into the beautiful brunette since their initial introduction at the Tweedy show, and he’d been too busy with the holidays, work, and moving to track Shane down and ask about her friend. He’d made such a crappy first impression, and so far, he wasn’t doing that much better with attempt number two.
    Instead, he was greeting her while sweaty and dirty from moving boxes of his belongings from his father’s truck to his new digs.
    The fact that he’d acknowledged the newcomer sent Sirus into a renewed apoplectic frenzy. She leapt into the air. Her leash kept her tethered, but as Weimaraners seemed to have springs bred into the bottoms of their feet, the dog looked like a big gray bouncing ball hoping to greet this new person properly.
    Anne laughed, which didn’t much help his attempts to calm his overwrought pup.
    “She’s a handful,” Anne said, but not without a smile.
    “Normally, she’s incredibly well behaved. But she’s been stuck either inside the truck or in the bedroom upstairs since we started moving, so she’s a little overexcited. I think she just needs to stretch her legs.”
    Anne nodded. “Maybe it’s time to take a break.”
    Michael glanced up at the sky. Sunset was maybe forty-five minutes away and they still had an entire truckload to drag upstairs before the temperatures dropped and they lost their best light source.
    “No time. My dad’s helping me get my stuff upstairs and he doesn’t want to drive back home too late.”
    She paused a moment, pressing her lips together as if she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure she should. Her hesitation, however, only lasted a split second.
    “I could help.”
    Mike glanced at the heavy boxes in the truck and then back at Anne, not sure what surprised him more—that the woman who’d occupied more than a little time in his thoughts over the last two months had suddenly appeared out of nowhere or that she was offering to help him lug heavy boxes into his new place.
    “I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” he said.
    “The dog will settle down,” Anne replied, bending so that she was eye level, but still at a safe distance from Sirus. The dog had stopped doing her imitation of a Slinky, but was still attempting to wriggle out of her skin.
    “No, I thought you meant,” he cut himself off before he made too much of a fool out of himself. Again.
    He yanked the leash, calling Sirus to his side. She obeyed immediately. She