Love Me Read Online Free Page B

think of a single thing to say. 
    He jumped onto the Interstate and headed west.  Very quickly, they were out of the city and ascending into the foothills.  She wondered if he had a destination in mind or if he’d simply drive and drive and they’d never return to Denver.  At the moment, with her emotions in such turmoil, it was a refreshing notion.
    But an exit was approaching, and he wound them onto a smaller highway.  They continued for a few miles until they passed a sign for a scenic pullout.  He whipped into the parking lot and shut off the motor.  The spot was cool and quiet, the only sound the pinging of his motor and the wind blowing through the trees.
    Denver was spread out below them, the flat prairie beyond, as if she could see all the way to Kansas. 
    He made her too uncomfortable, and she didn’t know how to converse with him.  And she certainly didn’t have the energy to verbally spar.  She opened her door and crawled out. 
    She went over to the rock wall at the edge of the lot and sat on it, staring out at the view.
    For awhile, he left her alone, then she heard him climb out too, his boots crunching across the gravel.  He didn’t bluster up, but kept his distance, staying a good ten feet away.
    She tried to ignore him, but he was so macho, so confident, so…alive.  It was like being next to an elephant, and she couldn’t pretend he wasn’t there. 
    “What a great place,” she murmured.
    “I stumbled on it one day when I was driving around.  I like to spend time here whenever I’m feeling low.  It puts things in perspective.”
    “Do you come here very often?”
    “Like I said:  when I’m feeling low.”
    Which wasn’t much of a reply.
    Was he frequently despondent or distressed?  What could trouble a man like him?  He seemed too tough to have any worries.
    “Thanks for picking me up.”  
    “My pleasure.”  
    “How did you know where I was?”
    “I followed you.  I’m supposed to keep you safe, remember?”
    She snorted at that.  He might be able to keep her physically safe, but the real danger was the scattered thoughts roiling in her brain.  How could he protect her from those?
    She was so confused about what she wanted.  She’d assumed it was a wedding and marriage and what came afterward. 
    Marriage was such an ordinary choice.  Everyone else accomplished it with ease.  Why was it so difficult for her ?  She hadn’t viewed herself as a person of high drama and stirring emotion, but evidently, she was.
    “Can I ask you a question?” he said.
    “Sure, but I won’t promise that I’ll answer.”
    “How come you put up with your mother when she treats you like that?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    “She’s a royal you-know-what, pardon my French.”
    “She definitely is.”
    “You’re rich, and you have credit cards and plenty of money in the bank.  Why don’t you bag out on her?  Hop on your private jet and flit off to one of those exotic houses you own all over the world.”
    She scowled.  “My private jet?  My exotic houses?  Where do you get this stuff?”
    He grinned that sexy grin of his.  “I was fully briefed on you before I took the assignment.”
    “Well, whoever trained you is an idiot.”
    “Which part is wrong?  You’re not rich?  You don’t own a private jet?  You don’t own houses all over the world?”
    She rolled her eyes and glanced away.  It hurt to look at him.  He was so self-centered and cocky.  He flustered her.  He had her heart racing, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d start babbling like a fool.
    He came over to sit beside her, settling so near that their thighs were touching.  She was facing the valley, but he was turned the other way, so he was staring directly at her.
    He studied her with an attention to detail that no other man had ever exhibited toward her, and she found it thrilling.  But early on, she’d learned not to let any guy get too close.  They always ended up having ulterior