Til Death Do Us Part Read Online Free Page B

back and hug herself tightly to his big body.
    What she felt was wrong, she thought; her overwhelming need for this man—this stranger. J. T. Blackwood might be wearing Benjamin Greymountain’s ring, but he was not Joanna’s dream lover. He couldn’t be!

CHAPTER TWO
    â€œN OT TONIGHT , E LENA . Please.” Joanna clutched the portable telephone in her hand. “I’m tired from today’s ordeal with my Jeep. I just want to take a nice long bath, look over the sketches I did at the reservation, and go to bed early.”
    â€œBut this is J.T.’s first night home and I’ve planned a special dinner,” Elena pleaded. “You don’t have to stay long after we eat. But come over for a while. I was counting on your being here.”
    â€œI’ve already met your brother. Remember, he’s the one who gave me a ride back to the ranch.”
    â€œI don’t know what happened between you two, but whatever it was, I’m sure we can straighten it out tonight.”
    â€œI don’t want to ruin your plans, but—”
    â€œThen don’t ruin my plans. Just come eat dinner and you can leave as soon as we smooth things over between you and J.T.”
    Joanna breathed a deep sigh. Stepping up on the raised floor of what had once been the back porch of the old bunkhouse and was now her huge bathroom, Joanna began unbuttoning her dirty blouse.
    â€œThere’s nothing to smooth over between your brother and me. We understand each other perfectly.” Joanna leaned over, turned on the faucets and watched the water flow into the big, pedestaled, cast-iron bathtub she’d found at an antique shop in Albuquerque. “Mr. Blackwood andI have agreed that we don’t like each other, that we aren’t each other’s type and that we have no intention of allowing you to play matchmaker.”
    â€œJust what did J.T. say to you?”
    Joanna opened a bottle of scented bubble bath, sloshed a generous amount into the running water and set the container down on the unfinished, wide-plank floor.
    â€œHe told me that you’d been trying to get the two of us together for several years now and he has avoided coming to the ranch except when I was out of town.”
    â€œThat no-account brother of mine!” Elena said. “He had no right to say something like that to—”
    â€œWhy on earth would you ever think your brother and I would be interested in each other? If I were looking for a man, I’d want someone more like your Alex. Gentle and kindhearted. A fellow artist. And someone who loves New Mexico the way I’ve come to love it.”
    â€œOh, Jo, you need someone special in your life and so does J.T.” Elena let out an exaggerated sigh. “All right, so I was wrong to hope you two were a perfect match. Come to dinner and I promise no more matchmaking.”
    â€œNot tonight.” Joanna finished unbuttoning her blouse and dropped it to the floor, then unzipped her jeans.
    â€œYou’ve become my best friend,” Elena said. “And J.T. is my only brother. Even if there can’t be anything romantic between the two of you, I’d still like for you two to be friends. J.T.’s taking a real vacation and he’s going to be staying a couple of weeks this time.”
    â€œIf he’s going to be here a couple of weeks, then there’s no hurry in our getting to know each other, is there?”
    â€œIsn’t there anything I can say to get you to change your mind about dinner tonight?”
    Tell me your brother isn’t going to be there, Joannathought. “No, I’m afraid not. But…well, I’ll come to dinner one night before Mr. Blackwood leaves. Okay?”
    â€œMr. Blackwood? He must have really made you angry today,” Elena said. “Look, his bark is a lot worse than his bite. J.T.’s pretty cynical about life, and he’s stubborn as a mule, but underneath,