He's No Prince Charming Read Free Page B

switch.

    Then he limped into the room.

2

    Who’s the Boss?

    Dakota blinked in the sudden bright light burning directly overhead, but couldn’t keep her eyes from widening when Trace came into the cabin. His limp was a pronounced, almost angry gait, and she would have backed up a step but instinct told her he was still trying to intimidate her, so she held her ground. But barely.
    When she didn’t budge, he turned his head to the side in a sharp movement meant to draw her attention to a thin pink scar that started at the outer corner of his left eye, bisected his cheekbone, and then disappeared into the dark stubble shading his jaw. Vivid images of a fierce bull tossing him to the ground and stomping on him came to life in her head, causing her to shudder. “Ohmigod,” she said softly. The pain reflected in his light blue eyes told Dakota he had mistaken her shudder for horror at the sight of his scar. “Trace—”

    “Not pretty, huh?” Trace took a step closer, towering over her, and even though her heart was thudding, Dakota looked up at him with what she hoped was a you-don’t-scare-me expression. But it wasn’t entirely genuine. While she didn’t find the scar offensive, it did give him a dangerous edge that made her heart pound harder. There was an angry-at-the-world aura about him, and yet something vulnerable flickered in his eyes, making Dakota want to reach out to him. For a moment his expression softened, but then he seemed to catch himself and glared down at her.

    “Trace, you misunderstood, I—”

    “Save it,” he interrupted curtly.

    “No, listen,” Dakota began, but in her peripheral vision she spotted something small and furry scurry across the floor. The mouse! So Trace hadn’t been lying, but she had been when she had said she wasn’t afraid of them. A scream gurgled up in her throat. Not wanting to show her fear, Dakota put a curled fist to her lips and tried to disguise it as a cough, but it came out a high-pitched “Urrrrhhhh.”

    Trace gave her a funny look, as if he couldn’t quite make sense of her odd noise, but he also looked a bit smug, undoubtedly thinking his scare tactics were working. “Are you okay?”

    “Fine and dandy.” Dakota stood up a little straighter and placed her hands on her hips while trying not to think about the probability of mice hidden in the shadows. Although Dakota knew she didn’t look it, she was made of sterner stuff than what most people imagined. Leaving her home and family at sixteen had taken guts, and not everyone could get up in front of thousands of people and sing. Regular domestic animals didn’t bother her in the least. In fact, she was an animal lover, but rodents and spiders were on her short list of things that made her shiver.

    Dakota saw the mouse dart back across the floor, this time toward the door. Yes, leave , Dakota prayed. Head for the woods and never come back! She made a mental note to get a cat, but just when she thought the coast was clear, the little critter did an about-face and sat on his haunches behind Trace, as if mocking her.

    “I’m not afraid of you,” Dakota muttered while eyeing the mouse.

    “You sure about that?” Trace asked, obviously thinking she was referring to him.

    “Yes!” she answered, but when the mouse inched forward in her general direction, she imagined it climbing up her leg, which was silly, she knew, but still . . . “Urrrrhhhh!” She did the cough/scream noise again, telling herself it was only a stupid little mouse and she could crush it beneath her flip-flop. But when that nasty image entered her head, she covered her mouth with her hand.

    “Are you sure you’re okay?” Trace asked.

    His concern had a bit of a bite to it, since it ticked him off that his appearance was so disgusting to her. He knew the scar was ugly and he was trying to frighten her off, but damn , she was all but gagging. Her amber eyes rounded in fear, even though she had the decency to try to