You're Still the One Read Online Free Page A

it."
                  "I can do that." Katie pulled a scrap of paper and a pen from her purse.
                  "No."
                  Hand poised over her purse, her gaze snapped to his. "What?"
                  "I'll do all the checking and call you when I've found something."
                  She stiffened, crumpling the paper in her fist. "I want to help."
                  "I know what I'm looking for. You don't."
                  His voice was gentle, but steel rimmed the words and sent a shaft of irritation through her. She'd hoped the years might've mellowed his insistent control. "I'm coming with you."
                  "None of my other clients--"
                  "I'm coming." The old anger swept in along with a flash of panic. Telling herself Rick simply didn't understand how important this was to her, she took a deep breath. "I need to be there when you find her."
                  "I don't know anything about this Henderson character. If he actually is connected to the mob, he could be dangerous. Besides, you need to be safe and sound so Grace has someone to come home to when I do find her."
                  "She's supposed to call me. Wouldn't you rather be around to hear it?"
                  "You'll let me know."
                  She hesitated, then blurted, "Do you not want me along because of the past? Because of what I... what happened?"
                  His lips flattened. "No."
                  "I wouldn't blame you."
                  "I said no." Rick bit out the words.
                  Katie took in the steel jaw, the piercing, narrowed eyes. Had he ever forgiven her for refusing him? "I won't get in your way."
                  She couldn't tell if she was reaching him or not. The Rick she'd known-loved-hadn't had those black eyes that hardened to marble. Hadn't been able to disappear beneath a stoic mask of indifference. She couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling. Panic sawed at her.
                  "I can't just sit around and do nothing."
                  "I don't like working with anyone," Rick said bluntly.
                  "Well, I didn't love coming in here, but I did it." She clenched her fists, stepping toward him. "Grace is in danger. I have to find her. You don't know what it's like to feel helpless, to feel--"
                  "I do know." His voice lashed the air as he pushed out of his chair, tension coiling in his broad shoulders.
                  Katie took a reflexive step back, frowning at the harsh, emotion beneath his words.
                  "I know helplessly, second-guessing, uncertainty--" He broke off, anger vibrating from him. "Don't tell me I don't."
                  She shook her head. "I didn't mean -- I'm sorry."
                  "Don't presume to know anything about my life, Katie. Don't make assumptions about me."
                  What had happened? She swallowed the question. She had no right to know anything about him, no right to care. She'd given that up long ago.
                  He leaned across the desk toward her, eyes blazing, a muscle flexing in his jaw. "Just because we were involved once doesn't mean you know me now . Doesn't mean you know anything about me."
                  "I could say the same to you."
                  The air snapped tight, hummed with old anger, past hurts.
                  Fury tautened his carved features; his throat worked. "Let's agree to stick to this case," he said hoarsely. "And facts about his case only. "
                  She nodded, her mouth dry, her heart hammering with the same wildness it had the first time she'd ever noticed him. He'd been running to class, up the hill past