I Cross My Heart Read Free Page A

one, but if he could put it on something, he could drive straight to the landfill. She didn’t need to dig a hole and bury the chair. Surely there were other menial chores around this wreck of a place where she could work out her emotions.
    He returned with the extinguisher. “You might want to stand back while I do this.”
    She backed up several steps. Considering the uneven dirt in the front yard, she navigated well on those überhigh heels. She must be used to them.
    “I guess you think I’m a lunatic for trying to burn this recliner,” she said.
    “No, actually, I don’t. I know something about being so furious that you have to find a good target for your anger.”
    “That about sums up my little stunt, but now it seems pretty juvenile.”
    “Not at all. I think it had flair.” He pointed the extinguisher at the recliner. Slowly circling it, he layered on the foam. At last he was satisfied. “That should do it.” He glanced over and noticed her tiny smile. She had a full, prettily shaped mouth. She’d probably clean up real good. “Feeling any better?”
    “I am, actually.”
    “Excellent.” He cleared his throat. “So you’re the daughter?”
    She nodded.
    “I thought so. But I’ve gone and forgotten your first name. I was a few years ahead of you in school.”
    “You wouldn’t have remembered me, anyway. I was an awkward nerd back then. A certified late bloomer.” Her smile widened a little. “I remember you, though, Nash Bledsoe. You were quite the heartthrob.”
    To his dismay, he felt heat rising from his collar. “I don’t know about that. Anyway, is your last name still Grace, or something else, now?” If she was married, he didn’t think much of a husband who’d send her off to deal with this situation by herself.
    “My last name is still Grace.” She gazed at him thoughtfully. “I take it you haven’t heard anything about my career, then?”
    “Sorry, I haven’t. Emmett just said you’d become a city girl.”
    “Well, that’s humbling. But then, I lost touch with everyone back here, and my folks weren’t much for socializing, or bragging, for that matter.”
    “About what?”
    “I’m a bestselling author. My latest book hit number one on all the lists.”
    His stomach clenched. But no, it couldn’t be. Coincidences like this didn’t happen in real life. “What do you write?”
    “Motivational books. Self-help, is how most people refer to them.”
    His throat went dry and his heart began to pound. “You’re Bethany Grace? ” The name came out as a hoarse croak.
    “So you have heard of me!” She looked pleased.
    “Oh, yeah.” He felt light-headed. “I’ve heard of you. Your books made my life a living hell.”

2
    B ETHANY GASPED . S HE ’ D had many reactions to her books in the three years since she’d first hit the bestseller charts, but no one had ever said anything that awful. Nash wasn’t kidding, either. His blue eyes had iced over and his expression had turned to granite.
    She’d just been thinking what a good-looking guy he’d turned into, and a kind one, at that. She’d found herself admiring the strong line of his jaw and the sensual curve of his lower lip. Because she’d outgrown her nerdy phase, she’d felt capable of flirting a little with the likes of Nash Bledsoe, if he wasn’t attached.
    But instead she’d discovered that her cheerful and positive message had created such fury in him that he’d barely been able to speak her name. To know that her books had done that made her physically ill. She hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday, which was probably good, because she had nothing in her rolling stomach that could come back up.
    His bitter words had sucked most of the air from her lungs, too, but she finally managed to draw in enough to ask a question. “How did my books do that?”
    A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’d rather not get into it.”
    “Please, don’t hit me with something like that and refuse to tell me why! No