Never Too Hot Read Free Page B

wasn’t going to get away with that. Because Ginger Sinclair was no longer afraid to call people on their shit. And this guy was fairly brimming over with it.
    “Are you accusing me of something?”
    The half-not-a-smile dropped. “Only if you’ve got something to be guilty about.”
    Jesus. What was with good-looking guys? Were they so used to getting their own way all the time that they thought they could say and do whatever they wanted, whenever the mood struck? Someone should have taken this one down a peg a long time ago. Looked like the job was all hers.
    Twisting her mouth into that same half smile, half sneer he’d just graced her with, she said, “Well, since I’ve already been living here for eight months without your knowledge, it’s clearly been a long while since you’ve had a chat with your grandparents. Seems to me I’m not the one who should have the guilty conscience.”
    She braced herself for his next parry, but instead there was that flash in his eyes again, not angry now, more intrigued. The way her pulse jumped confused her, made her head feel like it was spinning. What was it about this guy that had her body turning traitor on her?
    It had to be the muggy weather. All the dancing on the porch must have depleted her electrolytes. She was dehydrated. That’s all it was.
    “You’re right,” he finally said. “I need to call them.”
    Ginger couldn’t believe it. Was he actually agreeing with her? Well, that was that. Now that they’d cleared everything up, he’d go and leave her alone. Good.
    She couldn’t wait.
    But then, she noticed the large bag at his feet, presumably full of his clothes. Clearly, he’d been planning on staying in the cabin tonight. Because he’d thought it was vacant. Which meant he didn’t have any other place to stay.
    Oh no.
    She looked at his face again, immediately getting snared in his dark blue eyes.
    Definitely no.
    This log cabin was hers and hers alone. The cuckoo clock chimed four times over the fireplace in the living room and she was hit by a sudden rush of anger at her perfect day falling to shreds.
    “Look, I’m sorry that you didn’t know someone was living in the house, but I’ve got a twelve-month agreement, so you’re going to have to find another place to stay.” Tonight and thereafter, thank you very much. “And I’m afraid I’m going to be late for work if I don’t leave soon, so …”
    She looked at the door, making it perfectly clear that it was time for him to leave.
    He nodded, picked up his bag and said, “Okay.”
    She was midway through releasing the breath she’d been holding when he added, “I’ll come back tomorrow. So that we can figure out something that will work for both of us.”
    What? He was coming back?
    She should have known a guy like this wouldn’t back down so easily.
    “I’ll say it one last time. I’ve got a lease through the summer. Good-bye.”
    There. She couldn’t have been clearer.
    But he still wasn’t leaving. Instead his eyes were scanning the cabin and then he was walking over to a log that held up the wall between the porch and the living room. Without warning, he slammed his fist into it.
    She half screamed in surprise. “What the hell are you doing?”
    Calm as anything, he used his fingertips to brush away the crumbled wood chips.
    “See that?”
    She swallowed hard. “You just made a hole in the log.”
    A perfect fist-sized hole. How strong did he have to be to hit it like that without even flinching?
    “This rotten log is just one of the half-dozen ways this old house could come down around your head.” He turned back to her, raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure my grandparents would be happy to give you a refund on your rent.”
    Her heart was still pounding from the shock of seeing him knock a huge chunk out of the log. But she was bound and determined not to let his scare tactics work.
    “I’m not going anywhere.”
    “Then we’ll talk tomorrow.”
    The screen door slammed