Somebody Like You Read Online Free

how to get there.”
    Mel flushed. “I think I can help you with that.”
    “Forget it.” Cash held up his hand. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to stay with a stranger?”
    “I won’t be. I’ll have my own apartment.”
    “In a stranger’s house.”
    “You’re a stranger,” she reminded him.
    “Nah. We broke bread together.”
    She opened her mouth, but he stopped her. “I know where you can bunk.”
    “I won’t stay with you.”
    “Sugar, you make that sound like a challenge.”
    “I didn’t mean—”
    “We’ll put that on the back burner for now. Actually, what I have in mind is Mrs. Willis’s upstairs apartment. It’s empty.” He turned back to Mel. “We done here?”
    “Yep.”
    “Okay. Come on then, Annelise, and I’ll take you over to meet her. Mel, why don’t you give Dottie a quick buzz and tell her we’re coming?”
    “Dorothy Willis?” Annelise asked.
    “Yeah.” Cash hesitated. “You know her?”
    “I rented her apartment.”
    “Well, what do you know. Guess you won’t be with a stranger after all. Dottie’s a good woman.” He took her arm and started for the door. “I’ll run you over to her place. Mel, give her a call. Let her know we’re on our way.”
    “Sure. Should I cancel your ad?” Mel asked.
    Cash ran his gaze up and down Annelise. “Yeah. Position’s filled.”
    Annelise resisted the urge to give in to a happy dance.
    She insisted on following Cash on her bike. When he pulled his boat of a car into a long drive and parked behind a ten-year-old white Oldsmobile, she eased the Harley beside him. From this angle, the house looked presentable. Certainly not what she was used to, but if she was anxious to get back to what she already had, she should hit the road again and head back East. She wasn’t. Trying out something different, living differently, and proving she could accomplish something on her own—that was all part of this whole odyssey.
    A simple white two-story, its outside stairs led to a second-floor apartment. Cash’s mutt jumped out of the car and whizzed past her, clipping the back of her leg and nearly taking her down.
    Cash stuck two fingers in his mouth and emitted one shrill whistle. The cowboy pointed to a spot by his side, and the dog screeched to a stop, then sulked his way over to drop beside his master. Head on his front paws, he sent a pitiful look Cash’s way.
    “Ignore him,” Cash told her. “He practices this. Give him an inch, you’ll never, ever have any peace. He’ll own you.”
    Still, Annelise’s heart cracked, and she leaned down to rub the dog’s head. In a flash he flipped to his back, legs in the air, belly exposed, whimpering to be fussed over.
    Laughing, she dropped to her knees and made him one happy pooch.
    Cash leaned in, whispered in her ear. “If I fall onto the ground, will you rub my belly?”
    His breath brushed along her neck, sent tiny shivers over her skin. She turned her head, met his deep-green eyes, and arched a brow.
    She could have sworn a bolt of lightning flashed between them.
    Clearing her throat, she asked, “What’s his name?”
    “Staubach.”
    She frowned.
    “You know. Like Roger Staubach, the Dallas quarterback.”
    She shook her head.
    “You gotta be kidding. Heisman Trophy winner? He took us to two Super Bowls.”
    “Nope, sorry.”
    “Roger could get out of any jam on the field. Served in ’Nam, too. A real stand-up guy. He had guts. He was loyal. Like my pal here.” He reached down and scratched the dog’s ears.
    Dottie Willis pushed herself out of the porch swing and started down the walk toward them.
    Cash removed his Stetson and held it at his side. “Mrs. Willis, this is Annie.”
    Annie? Annie? She grimaced. Nobody called her Annie—not even when she’d been in diapers. She’d been born Annelise.
    “Glad to meet you, honey. Like I said in the ad, my place isn’t much, but it’s clean.”
    “That’s all I’m looking for.” Annelise realized she was