Montana Darling (Big Sky Mavericks Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

succinctly. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
    He picked up the antique coffee grinder he’d found in a little thrift shop in Livingston, added his usual measure—and a tablespoon extra, then walked to the opposite side of the little camp table so she could watch him stir the handle. The aroma released by the beans made his mouth water.
    One glance at her said she was swallowing extra saliva, too. Her nostrils flared and her nose wriggled.
    Damn. She’s cute.
    No. Pretty.
    No. Beautiful.
    He was so focused on defining her looks he lost track of the grinder and the little handle whacked his neglectful fingers. “Ouch.” He brought his knuckle to his lips and sucked on the sting.
    Her chuckle made him frown.
    “That never happens. You distracted me.”
    “I’m just standing here. I didn’t do anything. Just like a man to blame somebody else for his mistake.”
    A telling comment, he thought. He covered the handle with his palm to stop the grinding action, then picked up the French press—one of the few things he’d brought with him from France.
    With the kind of care he’d learned in the darkroom, he shook the grounds into the base, added the heated water and fixed the top, plunger fully extended. While the coffee brewed, he decided to get introductions out of the way.
    “My name is Ryker Bensen,” he said, taking a step toward her, arm extended.
    Her body posture tensed again, but she didn’t run. “Mia Zabrinski.” She crossed her arms defensively below her chest. “I’m here—”
    He cut her off. He wasn’t ready to hear her agenda. He needed coffee to function at a societal level. “That name is familiar. How do I know it?”
    “Have you been to my brother’s hardware store or lumber yard?” She looked at the boards that made up his little table.
    “That’s it. I like that store.” He opened the camping chair he’d purchased at Big Z Hardware and offered her a seat.
    She shook her head. “I’m not here to socialize.”
    “I sort of gathered that. But if we have some business I don’t know about, it will have to wait until I have my coffee.”
    She pulled a high-end phone out of her jacket pocket and stabbed a four-digit code with obvious impatience. “I have another appointment in fifteen minutes. Is that coffee ready yet?”
    Ryker only had one chair, so he upended a plastic bucket—also purchased at Big Z’s, before returning to the table. He used his left palm to depress the plunger, slowly and with a little flourish that made her left eyebrow lift. “This is rushing it, but…okay. Does your other appointment know you’re coming?”
    He’d meant the question in jest, but Mia Zabrinski, beautiful though she was, apparently didn’t possess a sense of humor.
    “Yes. The chief of police knows I’m coming. I told him I was stopping here to serve notice to vacate these premises within forty-eight hours. If you don’t, he will send an officer to make sure you do.”
    She’s bluffing. Somehow he knew she’d just made that up and it made him feel a little sorry for her.
    “You’re kicking me off my own property?”
    She blinked and shook her head. The question obviously threw her, but she took a step closer, eyes narrowing. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, Mr. Bensen—if that’s your name, but this is my land. My ex-husband and I bought it three years ago and I have the deed to prove it.”
    A bad feeling landed like a fist in his belly. Three years ago? Before or after Flynn got his inheritance? He tried to do the math but his brain wasn’t cooperating. Could Flynn have sold the land out from under him? No, of course not. They’d had this discussion two months ago. Besides, his brother wouldn’t do that. Could Howard have done something to Ryker’s trust? Forged his name? Was that even possible?
    Nerves and discord he’d thought were behind him took hold. The world he’d been hiding from found him. Damn.
    He turned away from her penetrating look and