Man on a Mission Read Online Free Page B

she saw him.
    â€œI brought a surprise,” he said, and held up the basket.
    â€œA surprise?” A tiny wrinkle furrowed her brow as she gazed first at him, then at the basket. “Please come in.” She stepped aside to allow him entry, thenclosed the door behind her to stop the flow of heat into the air-conditioned room.
    A small suitcase was open on the sofa, revealing pastel-colored lacy things, and the sight of those feminine items caused a flutter of heat to sweep through Mark.
    He set the basket on the table, wondering what it was about this particular woman that affected him on a level that nobody else had for a very long time.
    He’d been invulnerable, untouchable both physically and mentally when it came to women since Rachel’s defection three years ago.
    â€œWhat’s all this?” she asked, peering into the basket.
    â€œDinner.”
    Her eyes appeared to grow impossibly luminous. “Oh,” she said softly. “Mark, you shouldn’t have done this.”
    â€œWhy not? It’s good food.” He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands in his pockets.
    She laughed, a musical sound that was at once arresting. “I’m sure it’s good food.”
    â€œThen eat,” Mark replied. He pulled his hands from his pocket and began to unload the items from the basket. “Where’s your boy?” he asked when he’d finished.
    She pointed toward the closed bedroom door. “He’s angry.”
    â€œWhy?” Mark went to the cabinet and pulled out two plates and set them on the table.
    Again her brow crinkled with a frown, and he could tell she was trying to determine whether to tell him. “I had promised Brian we were going to stay here,that I was going to have a job here. Now he’s angry because there’s no job and we’ll be leaving in the morning.”
    â€œYou’re going to stay,” Mark replied confidently. He walked over to the bedroom door and rapped on it, then smiled at April. “We had a family meeting. The ranch is going to stay open and you will have a job.”
    â€œBut your father hired me, and now he’s gone. Perhaps your brother will want to interview—”
    â€œYou have the job,” Mark interrupted her, then knocked once again on the door. “Brian, come out.”
    The door opened and Brian stepped out, a mulish expression on his face. “What?” he said with more than a touch of belligerence.
    â€œCome and eat,” Mark said.
    â€œI’m not hungry,” Brian said, but he moved closer to the table, and his eyes widened at the sight of the chocolate cake. “Well, maybe I could eat just a little,” he said and slid into one of the chairs at the table.
    â€œGo on,” Mark urged April into the other chair, then he shoved the suitcase over and sank onto the sofa.
    â€œThis was so incredibly kind of you,” April said, her gaze so warm on him, he could feel the heat clear down to his toes.
    He nodded and fell silent, afraid of saying too much, not wanting to expose himself, yet wishing to hell he could reveal himself to her.
    He wanted to know where she and Brian were from, how Adam had come to hire her, what forces had driven her here. He wanted to know if her skinwas as soft as it looked, if it would be warm and inviting beneath his touch.
    And he wanted to know why her beautiful, thick-lashed eyes emitted such fragility. He had a feeling keeping up his act with her was going to be the most difficult thing he’d ever done.
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    April ate self-consciously, unsure what to make of the man who sat on the sofa. His kindness in bringing them dinner had nearly undone her, and it was only with enormous effort that she hadn’t cried.
    She only picked at the food on her plate, finding Mark Delaney far more interesting than chicken and beans. He was a fascinating dichotomy, his face an arresting contrast of darkness and light.
    With his strong,