Where There's a Will (Whiskey River Book 1) Read Online Free

shifting around as if he were getting ready to move.
    She nodded her head and conjured up her most sympathetic look. “It could happen to any guy.”
    He stared at her a moment before laughing. “Nice try. I was being a gentleman, Addison,” he said. “You and I have been dancing around each other since Christmas. Hell, if we’re being honest, since the day you walked into my office answering my ad. And I thought it might be nice to do this thing properly. Dinner, dancing and then see where the night leads.”
    He stood and walked over to her then crouched down next to her in the closet. He was so close the scent of his aftershave wrapped around her and all she could hear was the soft inhalations of her own breath and the heavy beating of her heart.
    “But if you have a better idea, I’m all for it.”

Chapter Three
    ‡
    A DDISON TILTED HER head in that way she had, considering him. Part of him wanted her to overcome his objections and say right here, right now. But that would be a mistake. Ryder wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted but he did know he wanted more than a quickie in a closet with a tornado bearing down on them.
    “Are you asking me on a date, Ryder?”
    He sat beside her. “Yes.” He wanted to be just Ryder and Addison, not boss and secretary. “Saturday night. I’ll pick you up at 6:30. Dinner, drinks and dancing.” Prepare to be swept off your feet, Ryder thought.
    “What kind of dancing? I don’t do country.”
    The only place to dance in Whiskey River was the Blue Moon, a country western honky tonk that had the distinction of being the oldest restaurant in town, if not the most popular. But come to think of it, Ryder had never seen Addison there. He only went occasionally, but he went to shoot pool, not to dance. “The Blue Moon wasn’t what I had in mind. We’ll go to San Antonio, to the Riverwalk.” Not only would the Riverwalk be romantic, but they’d be safe from the town gossips, who loved to be the first with any hint of a romance between Whiskey River’s residents. Ryder wanted to see how things went before a bunch of talk made it uncomfortable for them to be around each other. He didn’t want to ruin their work relationship if it didn’t work out between them.
    Not that Addison intended to stick around much longer, he thought with a frown. Still, nothing would happen until after she took the boards. Plenty of time to see how things developed between them.
    In the meantime they were stuck in the closet for who knew how much longer. Rather than abating, the sounds of the storm were getting louder. The wind had picked up and was rattling the rafters. He heard the clatter of hail hitting the roof, and glancing at Addison, he knew she heard it too.
    “It hailed before the Barrels Breaker , too,” she murmured, calling the storm she’d lived through as a child by the name the locals had given it.
    Obviously, that storm had made an indelible impression on her. He winced, thinking of his cavalier attitude about it when he’d first brought it up. “Did something happen to you or your family during the tornado?” Good God, what if someone had died?
    “It was just my brother, Adam, and I. And our . . . mother.”
    Although Ryder wanted to prompt her, he remained silent. Better to let her tell him in her own time. Ryder knew her brother had survived. Adam Wells was a local cop and Addison saw him often. He stopped by when he could to take her to lunch. But she never mentioned her parents.
    “Our father had left long before that. It was just the two of us for as long as I remember.” She fell silent and he could see that she’d retreated into the past.
    “A minute ago you said it was you and Adam and your mother. Did something happen to her during the tornado?”
    Her laugh held no humor. “No, the storm didn’t touch her. We thought the house would come apart, but it didn’t. She . . . slept through the whole thing. But our neighbors weren’t so lucky. Their house