Kiss and Tell Read Free Page A

problem. Maybe she was a slow learner. It wasn't a man she needed. It was the ability to say no to her family and yes to herself.
    For years her grandmother had warned her she was looking for the wrong thing. Instead of looking around for someone to make her feel complete, she needed to examine herself. To know who she really was. To feel whole within herself.
    Marnie had vehemently disagreed. Every woman her age was marrying. Having kids. It was what women did .
    Twice she'd accepted engagement rings from nice men who were all the things she thought she wanted, only to find herself aching for something they didn't have. Couldn't give her.
    And while she wasn't in a hurry to get married anymore, she wasn't getting any younger, either. She was only twenty-seven. Her biological clock would probably start to tick soon, but she had years before age became an issue.
    Grammy had been dead right.
    Marnie had to learn about herself before she could share her life with someone else. Whoever he might be.
    Luckily that decision had come before she'd made it to the altar. One small step. Yet she hadn't moved from the safety of her dad's house until a year ago. And she still worked for him as a programmer when what she really wanted to do was something involving her art. Like the Cowardly Lion, she was still looking for courage.
    Grammy's death five weeks ago had been a turning point in her life. She'd ridden on the current of taking the path of least resistance for too long. The times they were a-changing. She'd missed so much by letting others tell her what was best for her.
    Now she wanted it all. Art school in Paris. Living in a sun-filled loft with the smell of paint and the Seine. Excitement. Challenge. Freedom.
    Or perhaps she'd find a job with an advertising agency. Or a greeting card company. Or... The choices were limitless. All she had to do was decide which road to take. Which grand adventure to pursue.
    Someday she'd want a husband. And children. And a house in the country, with a tire swing hanging from a tree, smoke curling from the chimney, and marigolds growing near the front door. But not yet.
    She needed to learn to spread her wings and fly. And by God, when she left this mountain she'd know precisely how she was going to achieve that. Come hell or high water, as Grammy used to say.
    Marnie smiled into the darkness. She didn't need to wonder what her grandmother would think of her antisocial mountain man. Her grandmother had always had a lively sense of adventure. She wouldn't have been scared off.
    He didn't scare Marnie off, exactly, but in this case keeping out of his way would be wise. He was dangerously attractive, and she had far too much thinking to do this weekend.
    Thinking that could become muddied getting mixed up with another macho man who thought he knew what was best for her.
    Her smile grew. But there wasn't any harm in daydreaming about him.
    She recalled his dark blue eyes as he'd glared at her. His sexy mouth. That rich, husky voice that made her bone marrow shimmy like Jell-O. She snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag and forced herself to rein in her thoughts about a man she didn't know. And probably shouldn't. The thoughts, however, kept her nice and warm. She wondered what he was doing right—
    A booooom , similar to a volcano erupting, cut her off in midthought. The noise was deafening. And close.
    With a howl of fright Duchess jerked awake and skittered across the plank floor to land quivering on her mistress's legs.
    At the same time Marnie bolted upright, wide-eyed, heart pounding. "What the—"
    The cottage shuddered, groaned, and creaked. The walls shook with a series of earsplitting screeches. Tangled in the sleeping bag and dog, adrenaline rushing, she kicked her legs free and jumped to her feet just as a huge tree crashed through the ceiling.
    With a bloodcurdling yell, Marnie threw her arms over her head, and her body over Duchess, as chunks of roof and ceiling, branches, and rain