Mountain Song Read Online Free

gold in the irises of her eyes, detect the faint ghost of her scent. In the
hours since she’d applied it, the woodsy perfume had mingled with her own
scent, and the result was...intoxicating.
    But that sort of
thinking was taking him down a path he was determined not to follow. The affair
that had nearly devastated him had been nothing but a brief diversion for
Claudia, a chance to see how the other half lived, to spend some time with a
boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Sure, she’d talked as though there were
something more, dangling the possibility of a future together like an exotic
trinket used to taunt a dirty street urchin.
    He’d been confused,
swimming in a vortex of unfamiliar passions, ready to go anywhere she led,
commit to anything she asked.
    But then she’d gone
too far.
    A chill quenched the
sensations that seconds before had Andy’s blood threatening to boil. He laid a
hand firmly on Claudia’s arm, closing the gap between them by a few more
inches.
    “Claudia,” he said,
his voice low and controlled. “There are some things you need to know about Bea’s
condition. And this time I’m afraid you have no choice but to trust me.”
     
     

 
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    Andy’s hand gripped
her arm. His strong fingers circled her wrist, the warmth of his touch melting
into her skin, while the rest of her body broke out in sudden goose bumps.
    It was just that the
air conditioning was set too high, circulating cold, clinical air.
    Yeah, right .
    Claudia wrestled her
arm back. Andy held on a little too long, his thumb glancing off in what was
practically, possibly anyway, a caress before releasing her. She resisted the
temptation to close her other hand over the spot where his fingers had rested,
to see if the burning trail of sensation was truly a figment of her
imagination.
    He shouldn’t have
touched her. He should have known better. They’d met again by chance, by an
unfortunate caprice of fate. He wasn’t to blame for that, at least she didn’t
think he was. But he had no business reaching for her, no right to such
familiarity.
    Not when his touch
brought reminders of other caresses, long past. Not when that single touch made
her feel more alive, more energized, than she had in a very long time.
    Suddenly
self-conscious, Claudia jammed her hands into the pockets of her white jeans. Pull it together . Ridiculous, to
be reacting this way. It was just that his touch was unexpected.
    “Let’s go back inside,”
she said. “You can tell me whatever it is that you need to say in front of Bea.
I don’t care to keep things from her.”
    Andy’s brows knit
together in a grimace of frustration. “Nor do I, Claudia, but there’s nothing I’m
going to tell you that Bea and I haven’t gone over already. Several times, in
fact.”
    “Then I can just hear
it from her, can’t I?”
    Andy clenched his
fingers into fists at his sides, then slowly relaxed them. Claudia could feel
the frustration in his gesture. Instantly she regretted her words. Like it or
not, Andy was Bea’s doctor, and it wouldn’t do to go around provoking him. Bea
would never have chosen him if she didn’t have total faith in him, if he wasn’t
the best available. Canfields always demanded the best—it was practically
genetic.
    “Fine,” he said. “We’ll
do it your way. That’s the way you’re accustomed to doing everything, if I
remember correctly. Besides, I’ve got better things to do than stand here
arguing with you and my most difficult patient.”
    Andy strode back into
the room, leaving Claudia to follow a few paces behind. Bea’s eyes fluttered
open as they took their positions on opposite sides of her bed.
    “So?”
    “Andy’s been telling
me a little about your osteoarthritis.”
    Bea frowned. “A
dreadful word, that. I’ve just got old bones. I didn’t need any fancy diagnosis
to tell me, either, but I suppose we have to pay these shysters for something.”
    “It’s just a little
more complicated