Protecting Tricia Read Online Free Page A

altogether.
    “Make sure you lock the door. I’ll be close to the house. If
you need me, just shout.”
    Once Clint stepped outside and shut the door, Tricia leaned
against the kitchen table, crossed her arms over her chest, and considered her
situation.
    She had one insane man hunting her down and was in the
company of another who obviously had no qualms about using force and threats to
get what he wanted. This new beginning of hers wasn’t off to a very good start.

Chapter 2
     
    What a mess. How did my life end up like this?
    Tricia halted her thoughts before they could progress any
further. How her life had reached this point was unimportant. All that mattered
now was fixing it and moving on. She would reclaim control of her life,
and this time around she wouldn’t screw it up.
    Pushing herself away from the kitchen table, she walked over
to the back door and turned the lock. Just as Clint had ordered her to do. As
the bolt slid into place, she muttered, “Yes, it certainly looks like I’m the
one in control.”
    She crossed the room, pushed back the thin cotton curtains
that hung over the window, and looked out across the backyard to see Clint
entering the barn.
    Over the years she had tried to forget Clint Owens had ever
existed, but her attempts had been completely unsuccessful. Eventually, she’d
accepted the fact that he would remain firmly ingrained in her memory forever.
    A woman never forgets her first love, her first lover, her
first broken heart. Clint had been all her firsts.
    A phone rang in the background, and Tricia jerked her head
around toward the direction of the sound. She briefly wondered if she should
answer it, then shrugged and ignored it. After the third ring, an answering
machine picked up.
    This is Clint. Leave a message.
    Short and to the point.
    “Clint, are you there?”
    At the sound of Jenny’s voice, Tricia hurried to the living
room. She glanced around, located the phone on an end table, and grabbed the
receiver.
    “Jenny.”
    “Tricia, I just wanted to make sure you got there and
everything’s okay.”
    “We’re here.” Tricia dropped down on the couch.
    “I know you hate this,” Jenny said, her tone soft and
soothing. “But it really is the safest place for you.”
    “The man practically kidnapped me! The last I heard, that’s
a crime.”
    “I don’t agree with his methods. A part of me wanted to
smack him for it. His actions were inexcusable, but his intentions were good.”
    “Look, you might be fooled by this
white-knight-in-shining-armor routine, but I’m not buying it. Clint couldn’t
care less what happens to me.”
    Which led to the question of why was he involved at all?
Maybe he was doing it as a favor to Neil. Or maybe he was doing it out of pity.
The thought had her squeezing her eyes shut in shame.
    “I think you’re wrong. According to Neil, the minute Clint
heard you were in trouble—”
    “No, I’m not wrong. He just wants to play hero. But I’ll let
him. I can survive a few days here.”
    She’d just stay out of his way and ignore him. It shouldn’t
be that difficult. She had a lot of experience doing exactly that. A great deal
of her time had been spent trying to stay out of Matt’s way.
    A nagging little voice in the back of her mind insisted on
pointing out it might be more than a few days .
    “Why didn’t you tell me he had moved back to Oklahoma?”
Tricia asked. “If I had known, it might not have been such a shock to see him
strolling through the door.”
    “I would have told you eventually, I just hadn’t gotten
around to it yet. He moved back a little over a year ago, after his uncle died
and left the ranch to him. It was about the same time he got divorced.”
    “He mentioned the divorce,” she murmured. Although, now that
she thought about it, he hadn’t actually said the word divorce . He’d
just said he no longer had a wife, and she’d assumed.
    “From what I can piece together, it was an ugly one.”
    “Didn’t