Rugged Hearts Read Free Page A

the mitten and handed it to her.
    “Uh, no, I just assumed.” She shrugged, not meeting his eyes.
    “Assumed?”
    She licked her lips. “Based on your age and all.”
    My age ?
    “Hey, but at least you’re the gentlemanly serial-killer type.”
    Wyatt released a sigh. This conversation was spinning wildly out of control. “Of course I’m not a serial killer.”
    “That’s a relief,” she muttered.
    “Look, I was trying to make a point.” He wanted to explain that she was mistaken about the wife thing, but he didn’t have a clue why it should matter one way or another.
    “Yeah, I appreciate your concern.” She stuffed the mitten in her coat pocket and swiped the Kleenex under her pert nose. “But news flash, I’m not as young as I look and I guess one day I’ll be grateful for those genetics. Right now it’s frustrating, particularly at bars and with people like you.”
    “Like me?” This woman was spry, but her attitude more than made up for her size. “What do you mean? I’m trying to be the nice guy here.”
    “Listen, mister. I teach a second-grade class and if you don’t think you have to be tough, I invite you to try one day with them.” She looked him over. “They’d chew you up. No offense.”
    “None taken.” He frowned, finding her spunk sexier than he should.
    “All I need is for you to tell me the name of the road that I need to turn on to get back to town and then you can return to planning who your next victim will be.” She smiled and damn if there wasn’t a twinkle in her eye.
    Mouthy as all hell. He pinned her with a puzzled look. “Listen, lady, for the record, not everyone up in these mountains is as hospitable as me. Besides, don’t you carry a map in your car?”
    Her gaze narrowed. She brushed an errant strand of blond hair from her eye. “If you’re the best in hospitable these mountains have to offer, no wonder everyone calls it the land that time forgot. And no, Mr. Triple-A police, I don’t happen to have a map in my car. It didn’t come in the welcome wagon basket.”
    Wyatt eyed her, not knowing whether to help her or toss her cute behind out in the snow. He figured, though, he’d brought on some of her saucy attitude. “The Git and Go in town keeps them right by the counter,” he tossed out, the sparring between them eliciting a tingling of arousal. By God, that hadn’t happened since his old girlfriend, Jessie, a mistake he had no intention of making again. Wyatt carefully reeled in his wayward emotions, holding his gaze steady on hers in a display of wills.
    She chewed the corner of her lip and then raised an eyebrow. “Good to know. Okay then, this conversation has been riveting, if not educational, but I’ll not take up any more of your time. I think I may have tapped out your quota of hospitality for the season.” She reached around him and grabbed the doorknob. He moved aside, flustered why he felt so agitated. Hadn’t she heard a word he was trying to say? “Listen, obviously you’re new around here.”
    She glanced up at him. Her arched brow spoke volumes.
    “It’s just that these storms can pop up rather unexpectedly through the mountains, kind of like a squall. Half the time radar doesn’t even catch them until it’s on top of us. When you’ve lived here long enough, you’ll know better to be prepared before venturing out.” It was clear from the way her blue eyes scalded him that she didn’t appreciate his speech on safety. He glanced down at his feet and kicked himself for sounding like her father. It was a gut reaction. If something needed to be fixed, he approached it without hesitation and used his common sense. To those who didn’t know him very well, he supposed that he could sound a bit overbearing, perhaps even bossy. From the look on her face, he’d nailed both pretty good. Her smile was tolerant at best.
    “Do you know the name of the road or not? I’m tired, I’m lost, and frankly I don’t need the fatherly