AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brody’s insides twisted.
Yeah, right.
Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy? Please add your review because nothing helps an author more and encourages readers to take a chance on a book than a review.
And don’t miss more from Diane Holiday with LOVE IN HIDING, available now. Turn the page for a sneak peek!
You can also sign up for the City Owl Press newsletter to receive notice of all book releases!
Sneak Peek of Love in Hiding
If she hoped to live, Sarah Cooper needed to pull off the most convincing performance of her life.
A disappearing act.
The GPS’s robo-voice announced she’d arrived at her destination. A white wooden sign that readOak Ridge Farmswith a bucking black stallion marked the entrance. She glanced in the rearview mirror one last time to make sure no one had followed her. Tension eased from her stiff neck. She’d white-knuckled the drive on the freeway out of San Diego almost a week ago. At least the quiet country lanes in rural Maryland had prevented anyone from sneaking up on her.
She turned onto a tree-lined, dirt driveway, and her heart rate kicked up a notch.
This ranch was her last hope and the only job left that included room and board. No more sleeping cramped in her car.
She eyed the low-fuel light. The gas tank was as empty as her stomach. Nerves jitterbugged up her spine. She knew nothing about horses or farms. From the time she could walk, her life had been dance, dance, dance. Her slim build, perfect for ballet, wasn't an asset when interviewing for jobs requiring manual labor. None of the other jobs had panned out. She clenched her molars.
This interview would be different. It had to be.
Rocks and dirt crunched under the tires of the dinged-up Honda she’d bought. At some point, she’d owe a boatload ofmoney to a parking garage in California where she’d abandoned her almost-new Toyota.
It didn’t matter. A dead woman had no use for a nice car.
She pulled up to a maroon and white-trimmed barn. In the distance, a sprawling, tan house sat atop a grassy hill. Horses grazed in spacious fields enclosed by brown, split-rail fences between the stables and woods. Open meadows stretched for miles.
Peace and freedom. What she wouldn’t give to have those again.
She took a deep breath, snatched the help-wanted ad from the seat beside her, and stepped out to find the owner. On her way toward the stables, she zipped her baggy jacket. Early May weather didn’t call for a coat, but with luck, her slight frame would look bigger, and Debbie wouldn’t worry about hiring someone too small to do the work.
A gust of wind blew the newspaper clipping out of her hand. The scrap skittered along the dirt, and she lunged to grab it. Her fingers touched the edge but another gust set the paper back in flight. She scrambled, rounding the corner of the barn, and smacked headfirst into a pair of booted legs. The impact threw her back, and she landed on her butt. Her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in before logic, and she tensed.
Her gaze climbed and climbed before reaching a man’s face shadowed by the brim of a navy ball cap with a Wounded Warrior emblem. Electric blue eyes stared down at her with such intensity her breath caught.
“Are you okay?” He offered a hand.
God no, but she couldn’t tell him that. “Yes.”
Her first lie of the day.
One flex of his strong forearm and she found herself on her feet again. She’d never had one of her dance partners lift her upwith such ease. Or grace. But something told her if she called this guy graceful, he wouldn’t take it as a compliment.
He stepped back and crossed his arms. “Can I help you?”
She glanced up at his still-shadowed face, from his chiseled chin to the jagged scar at the edge of his right cheekbone. Thick, corded muscles lined his neck, and broad shoulders stretched his camouflage T-shirt. No doubt, physical work shaped his body, not a weight room.
His guarded eyes seemed to see right through her.
She forced herself not to squirm.
The breeze blew the clean fragrance of soap and leather toward her. She inhaled the pure, masculine scent, getting a little lightheaded.
He cleared his throat.
