No Turning Back Read Free Page A

earlier, I own the place.” He played along, waiting to see what she would do and say. Being alone with her on a twenty-acre property and without a weapon inside ten feet made him more cautious than usual. “I feel as if we’ve already met, what with you knowing so much about me or thinking you do.”
    “You shouldn’t have listened in on that private conversation at lunch.”
    She had to be kidding. When she just stood there, staring at him with those full lips stretched into a flat line, he got the point. Not kidding.
    “So, you’re saying it was my fault you were talking shit about me?” he asked.
    She dropped her arms and glanced around, her gaze brushing over the land with a softness that wasn’t there a second ago. “Are you moving in?”
    He figured that was as close as he was going to get to an answer. “Possibly.”
    Her anger snapped back into place, pulling her body straight and narrowing her eyes. “You’re not sure?”
    Enough nonsense
. He shifted his weight back on his heels and spared her a we’re-done-here scowl. “I don’t know yet.”
    “You’re a big boy, Declan. You should have a real answer.”
    The damn woman didn’t back down one inch. The same look had sent two-hundred-pound-plus sergeants running but the louder he got, the bolder she acted.
    “And my answer would be your business because . . . ?”
    “Humor me.”
    As far as he was concerned, he already was. “I inherited the place from my grandmother.”
    “Yes, I know. Nanette Hanover.” Leah grumbled when she said the name.
    “Ah right, you traced the ownership to her and intend to challenge it.” He’d heard the claims. Charlie swindled the town and his grandmother ended up with the big house on the hill. The timing sure was suspect but the evidence never matched up to anything other than the purchase coming from the funds his grandmother saved from his grandfather’s insurance policy when he died years before. Declan had checked and double-checked that math several times just because he’d wondered how deep her knowledge and complicity went.
    “Everyone knew your grandmother.” An edge moved into Leah’s voice and her gaze traveled over the falling-down porch behind him.
    It didn’t take an intelligence specialist to know her issues extended past Charlie to Nanette. Declan knew so little about his grandmother, had spent so few hours with the Hanover side of the family after his parents divorced when he was eight. “I notice you didn’t add that they liked my grandmother.”
    “Most did.”
    “Not you?”
    “Your dad’s reputation is my biggest concern.”
    The woman excelled at giving nonanswers to simple questions. “Yeah, I heard your thoughts on him the first time. Before you move on to my mother, let’s stop with the family discussion.”
    Leah’s jaw clenched and unclenched before she answered. “Fine.”
    “Can I help you with something else?” The breeze kept the air cool and pushed out the humidity, but Declan felt inches from a full-on sweat. Being in this lady’s firing line sent his temperature spiking.
    “I’ll ask a third time. Are you really moving in here?”
    She sure had a lot of questions, or maybe it was more like one question that she liked to ask over and over. Either way, he wasn’t volunteering information. “And as I’ve said numerous times now, I’m not sure yet.”
    She balanced her foot against the bottom step to the porch. “I figured you’d come here, assess the place, see all the work it needs, and sell it.”
    The woman made everything sound like a character slam. But he had to admit that was his plan, or it had been. Somewhere in the last few hours the idea of selling and running gave way to a crazier thought of settling in. “I’m not afraid of a little hard work.”
    “You must have gotten that trait from your mother’s side of the family.”
    Score one for Leah
. The snide comment had him rushing to defend and make excuses. He hated so much about his