You're Still the One Read Online Free Page B

her. Long, lean legs bared by denim shorts, moving with a muscular fluidity that slowed her steps. The wispy image of his burnished flesh sliding against her pale skin floated through her mind.
                  She slammed the door on those thoughts. She wasn't going to let her hormones -- or her memories -- get in the way of finding Grace.
                  "It's not a good idea for you to come along," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
                  "Still think you ought to be calling all the shots, don't you, Powell?"
                  Surprise widened his eyes a fraction. "This is how I do business."
                  "This is why we didn't work out ten years ago."
                  Says you. His hands fisted as he studies the opposite wall. "I can move faster if I'm alone. And there will be situations where people might not talk to me if you're around. This really is best, Katie. Take it or leave it."
                  Ten years ago, she'd walked away from this very thing, but she didn't have that luxury now. "Maybe my sitting around doing nothing is not best for me. Or for Grace."
                  "Let me do my job. I'll check in with you as often as you like every step if you want, but it's best if I'm solo."
                  She set her jaw, her gaze burning into his. "I'm paying your fee. I should get to call the shots."
                  "Not with me."
                  Frustration hardened her voice. "How did you get in this line of work, anyway? It's got nothing to do with flying jets."
                  His face closed. "Long story."
                  One he plainly wasn't going to tell her. Swallowing against a sharpness in her throat, she said,"Fine."
                  He tapped a finger on the desk, his gaze scouring her face. "No more talk about the past."
                  "Fine." She knew that was for the best, but the old would inside her cracked open.
                  He irritated her, but even so, he was the one man she regretted walking away from. The one man who could reach places in her no one else ever could.
                  She couldn't ignore the knot in her belly that was part anger, part anticipation. Not affected by him? Who was she kidding?
                  She wanted him to reassure her, tell her he'd find Grace quickly, that she would be able to handle all this. But she squared her shoulders against the maverick wish. She needed Rick to find her sister. That was all.
                  She couldn't let herself start needing him for anything else.
                  The sun sank to the horizon in a smear of gold and purple, edging the clouds with shimmering light. As Rick drove north on May Avenue behind Katie's car, following her from her brother-in-law's apartment to her house, he rolled his shoulders against an edginess that worked through him, made him feel cornered. What he wanted right now was distance, but he'd needed Katie's access to Tommy Harrington's apartment and her house.
                  She hadn't been shy about letting him know she didn't appreciate the way he did business. Even now, his blood charged at the thought. That sassy, sharp-tongued woman was not the Katie he'd known. No, sir. And he liked this new Katie. Which was why it would be better for him . He needed to stay on this side of the past. Letting her tag along on this case would make that difficult, if not impossible.
                  He didn't like the idea of spending a lot of time with her. Hell, any time with her. Rick's lips twisted.
                  The scent of fresh-cut grass and car exhaust drifted through the window of his '67 Stingray. Golden light shimmered across the Corvette's sleek black hood. He was making a big deal out of nothing. It was the shock of