Summon Toren (Archangels Creed #3) Read Online Free Page B

universe. Looks like we're about to get hammered."
    "Huh. Sounds like you better get busy. None of us are in any shape to help." He chose to bless her with the little half-grin that won him the heart of nearly every female he encountered.
    Even Sam's, for a time. His superior attitude quickly ruined the charm of his looks. "You're up and moving, so get ready. We're going to get some extra hay out." She would tolerate him for the sake of the animals.
    He shook his head, tousled hair falling into his eyes. "'Fraid the others here are in pretty bad shape and I can't leave them. I’ve been fasting and praying. I’m pretty sure I’ll have this thing prayed out in two more days.”
    Of all the ridiculous bullshit the bastard had ever spouted. "Well maybe if you hadn’t convinced them, and hell, every other man in the area, that getting a flu shot was a bad idea, the whole basin wouldn’t be in this trouble and you wouldn’t be hiding out here on your knees. Now we’re all paying for your crack-pot philosophy."
    The insolent look he gave her, gaze trailing over her body, settling pointedly on the features he found lacking in femininity, spoke volumes. "If you stayed in the house where you belong and married like your Pap asked, the basin wouldn't have this trouble."
    Oh that bastard. Cold, slow-burning anger flared for an instant in Sam's blood. Joe had quickly learned all her hot spots, and never missed an opportunity to push her buttons, but the usual bullshit hadn't sent her blood pressure into the danger zone. His clear frustration over her “rebellious” behavior confirmed Sam's suspicions that he'd been behind her father's demand she marry, and choice of husband. What possible stake could he have in her relationship status? Without pushing himself as the prospective groom he couldn't hope for material gain. Could he?
    One more betrayal among so many shouldn't hurt, but it did. She would love nothing more than to fire Joe and send him on down the road. She'd even done it once. Then her father refused to back her up, undermining any degree of authority she might have possessed over the men. As soon as they saw him make her publicly apologize to Gavin and offer him his job back, she dropped to the bottom of the pecking order on the ranch. Even the adolescent boy who carried firewood and did other menial chores too insignificant for one of the hands to be delegated to had more authority.
    And Joe stood there in front of her now, probably aware of every thought running through her mind since he was also part psychic, according to him. Maybe it was time to give him something else to think about.
    Sam grinned at him, deliberately exaggerating the expression until she knew it looked unbalanced. "Let me tell you something Josephus , something you would do well to remember. I'm an only child, my father's only legal heir. He isn't getting any younger. In fact, this flu is taking a serious toll. You wouldn't recognize him now." Her conscience pricked a little at even using such a threat, but the narrowing of Joe’s eyes spurred her on. "Who can say how long the old goat has left? And when he's gone, the C-Bar is mine. If you like it here, if you think you might want to stay on whenever I take over, you would do well to remember that maybe very soon, I will have the final say here. Do I make myself clear?"
    The insolent half-smile faded and the sexy mouth compressed into a thin line of unexpressed anger. "Crystal clear. But just so you know…" The cocky slow grin returned. “I’m like the son your father never had.”
    The brief satisfaction she’d gotten from shaking the bastard's confidence disappeared. The most painful part of that statement was how true it was. Sam wouldn’t be surprised if her father made him heir since he clearly saw her as incapable from the day she was born, no matter how hard she tried to prove the opposite. "Get dressed. We roll in thirty or you’re fired.” She turned for the door. "And just so