To Desire a Wilde Read Online Free Page B

said, hiding his reaction.
    â€œGets better than that.”
    Shilah impatiently waited for Holt to continue, gritting his teeth when his brother frowned over the plate he’d just cleaned and tsk ed at himself, before wiping away a smudge of food he’d missed.
    â€œWhen the hell did you become Betty Homemaker? Give me the damn plate!” Shilah said, snatching the plate and placing it in the drainer.
    â€œHey, what’s up with you?”
    Shilah exhaled a breath, knowing his behavior was odd and not wanting his brother, known for his…unusual sense of humor, to discern the reason.
    â€œJust nerves, man. This whole thing with Rolling Hills is getting under my skin,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief when his explanation seemed to appease Holt.
    â€œYeah, I know what you mean. Same here. Sorry about that. Guess my baby is having an influence on me when it comes to the kitchen. She pitches a fit if everything isn’t cleaned up,” he said with a shrug.
    Although he wanted nothing more than to turn the tables and rag on Holt for his newfound domestication, Shilah’s mind was divided between concern for the ranch and what, if anything, Ellie had to do with it.
    He ran back through their conversation in his mind. When he’d first asked her the reason for her return to the ranch, he’d wanted to bite out his tongue, seeing thelaughter flee from her eyes, replaced by the somberness that she often seemed to carry around her like a stone weight.
    After that, he’d managed to bring the smile back to her face, making her laugh outright a few times, and he’d been happier than he should have been. She was just a girl from his past, he reminded himself, and immediately his inner voice mocked him with the memory of how good she’d felt…how right she’d felt against him when she’d stumbled and he’d pulled her close for a moment.
    No. She was a woman from his past, one he hadn’t seen or thought of for years, and nothing more.
    â€œYeah, well, anyway, our little Ellie has grown up and is working for the USDA. And apparently she’s the vet they assigned to come and investigate.”
    â€œWait a minute…back up. Ellie is investigating us?” When his brother stared at him as though he had grown two heads, Shilah realized that he must have lost a thread of their conversation, his mind on Ellie.
    â€œUh…yeah. We just talked about that. USDA is sending out their own investigator about the report?”
    â€œYes, I got that part. I missed the part about what Ellie has to do with that. How exactly…when…. did she get involved with the case?”
    â€œNow, that I don’t know. But I’m sure Nate will fill us in when he gets back home.” A glance at his watch and Holt cursed. “Damn, I was supposed to leave ten minutes ago to pick up Yaz from town.”
    With that he bolted out of the kitchen, leaving Shilah with his thoughts.
    Left alone, Shilah thought back to his conversation with Ellie. Each time he’d been set to ask her about whatshe’d been doing, somehow the conversation had turned and he’d been doing the talking. A seed of doubt crept into his mind. Had she been so absorbed in him…in the conversation, to distract him away from asking what she was doing at the ranch?
    He shook his head. No, not Ellie. Besides, she wouldn’t do anything to harm the ranch, he reasoned. She loved it as much as any of them did.
    But why hadn’t she told him why she was on the ranch? The question nagged at him as he left the house, turning over in his mind Ellie’s reason for not mentioning her role with the ranch.

Chapter 4
    â€œI s that you, baby girl?”
    No sooner had Ellie walked inside her parents’ house, than she heard her mother calling out to her.
    With a tired sigh, she placed her bag down on the hallway table and walked farther inside, spying her mother in the kitchen, an