Heart in the Field Read Online Free Page A

to the elevator,
and Serena had to hurry to keep up with Nick’s stride. He pushed the button
hard, the way she’d shown him, to make the light come on. Serena knew she was
going to have to get used to this scene. She and Nick
together. In a few months, with Neon
Nights well underway, she would laugh at her
initial jittery attitude. She might even laugh over it one day with Nick. But not tonight.
                One thing, he was polite, Serena
thought as he let her walk into the elevator first.
                “This time I know who you are.”
                “Yes. You do.” But Serena still
wanted to run away from him. No way was she going for a drink.
                In the foyer they checked out with
Joseph, who was the elderly evening security guard. The swing doors opened into
a humid, fragrant evening. People strolled around them on the sidewalk,
probably reminding themselves that winter in Toronto kept one cooped up inside, and a
beautiful calm night in September was a luxury.
                “Where’s a good place for a drink?”
Nick asked.
                Serena waved her hand. “You’ll find
a pub called The Bear’s Pause right up the street, across the next block.
Everyone goes there.”
                “Show me.”
                “It’s just up the street. You won’t
miss it.”
                He sighed. “Look, we have to spend a
great deal of time together. Part of our job is getting to know one another so
we can work together. If we don’t begin tonight we’re going to have problems.
Time’s too short.”
                He was right, of course. If she
didn’t go with him tonight, then she was only putting aside the inevitable.
Besides, she wouldn’t mind some relaxation before she drove home, even if it
was with Nick Fraser. Possibly, as she got to know him, she would discover he
was nothing like her father. He might have any number of differences in his
personality. He might not even attract her.
                “Are you coming with me?” He sounded
impatient now.
                “Yes.”
                As Nick strolled beside her, Serena
realized how pleasant it was to be walking with a man in the evening. Except
Nick wasn’t a man she should get interested in. She couldn’t handle short
affairs, or even long affairs for that matter. She began with good intentions,
but she ended up erecting protective barriers that pushed men away. She’d lost
someone very dear to her when she was still a child. Her mother had lost a husband
she’d loved passionately. And her brother had never known his father. The
silent grief in the household had been palpable for years. Stuart Redding
Brown’s presence had been powerful in their lives. While Serena believed her
mother was now healed, she knew her own scars were a mere shell, covering all
the anguish. Deep down she still felt a great deal of pain.
                Nick stopped beside a pub with
outdoor tables surrounded by a white picket fence and pots of flowers. “Is this
the place?”
                “Yes. It is.”
                Nick stepped back to let her go in
first. Serena walked through the door, feeling as if she were beginning a
journey that she might never return from. And the unknown frightened her so
much that her insides balled into a knot. Her body froze.
                Nick jammed up against her and his
hand went to her waist. “You do want to go inside, don’t you?”
                She turned and he was right there,
the leather jacket against her arm, the muscle of his body warm and solid, his
fingers splaying over her hip. “Of course.”
                “Then move, sweetie. There are about
half a dozen people behind me, trying to get through the same door.”
                He couldn’t be feeling any of the
same sensations she was. What was