Nobody's Business (Nobody Romances) Read Online Free Page B

Ski-Hab recruits on the bunny slope, Snow Wonder.
    One by one, with their instructors alongside them for guidance, the class of two-trackers eased their way down the
graduated hill in the classic S pattern. Nice. Slow. Steady form.
    The good thing about Marines: they knew how to take orders.
    On an inhale of crisp mountain air, she swooped closer to
the beginner's area. Years of skiing this mountain had made
her all too familiar with the instructors. These days, she could
recognize any staff member based on his or her unique motions on the slopes.
    Curiosity riveted her to the student working with Kerri-Sue.
The slender, beauty-queen blond, usually the most popular and
successful of the instructors, struggled with a hulking, onearmed giant of a man.
    As he attempted the winding slalom downhill, his center of
gravity tilted, and he faltered on the skis. Splat! He landed hard
on his right side-the side without an arm. Rather than flipping to his left and regaining his stance, he began the wiggle
routine, which Lyn usually associated with children and weaker
amputees.
    At first, Kerri-Sue stood back and watched, patiently waiting
for him to realize his mistake and correct his approach. But as
he continued to flounder while she no doubt stiffened in her
boots, she finally broke protocol and bent to wrap an arm around
him.
    Oh, for heaven's sake. The bigger they were, the more they
acted like babies. This one was no exception. Time for her to
intervene.
    One strong push with her poles set her in motion, and she
quickly gathered enough speed to cross the flat section that separated her trail from the bunny slope. Kerri-Sue must have
heard her approach, because her head jerked up toward the
crest of the hill. Seconds later, the instructor dropped her hold
on the student and stood upright, hands at her sides.

    Lyn came to a hard stop, spraying snow on the man's black
ski pants. "Back off, Kerri-Sue," she said, planting her poles
deep enough into the ground to keep them upright. "I've got
this one." She turned to the man whose face was hidden behind
a helmet and snow goggles. "What's your name, soldier?" she
barked with the force of a drill sergeant.
    "Umm ... Lyn ..." Kerri-Sue leaned toward her.
    Lyn waved her off, never turning her gaze from the man on
the frozen ground.
    "No, Lyn, really," Kerri-Sue continued in a hurried hush.
"You need to know-"
    "I'm talking to the soldier now, Kerri-Sue. Go wait for us at
the lift, please."
    "I'm not a soldier," the man ground out through gritted
teeth.
    Huh? Lyn started. "You're not?" Confusion smeared across
her brain like petroleum jelly, and she turned to Kerri-Sue for
clarity.
    Kerri-Sue's cheeks reddened with embarrassment, but her
eyes blazed outrage. "Doug is our first civilian in the program.
He was referred to us by Ace Riordan. Remember?" She edged
the last word with frozen iron.
    Oops.
    Vaguely. Lyn recalled the program's director, Richie Armstrong, telling her about a prospective recruit-a civilianwho'd been injured in some kind of accident. When Richie
had confided the guy was a friend of Ace's, Lyn had hesitated
to agree. No one had bothered to tell her the civilian had been
accepted, without her approval.
    Oh, she liked Ace-most of the time. But Ace had a reckless streak. Which made him an ideal athlete. Not, however, the
most reliable participant in a program like Ski-Hab. And this
was a friend of Ace's. What were the chances the man would
take the work involved seriously enough to succeed? She'd purposely limited Ski-Hab to members of the armed forces
because they were in excellent physical condition and accustomed to following orders.

    Still ...
    Ace's time with Ski-Hab must have left a positive mark for
him to refer their first civilian. A civilian who currently flopped
on the snow like a fish pulled out of an ice hole. While she
played Attila the Hun, snapping demands.
    "My apologies, Mr....?"
    "Sawyer," he replied through the