Shades of Grey Read Free Page B

said.
    Oh, no.
    “I don’t think so. Sit down and have some tea,” she ordered, pointing a finger at the seat he’d just vacated.
    The kettle finished boiling and she placed a teabag in each cup. “Do you take sugar?” she asked.
    “What?”
    With a sigh of frustration, Sarah asked the question again.
    “Two, please.”
    A few minutes later, she returned to the table with the steaming cups of tea. Travis glanced at them and then looked about again. He seemed on edge.
    A wave of thunder echoed round the house.
    “They did say it was going to storm. Are you afraid of storms, Travis? Is that why you’re behaving strangely?”
    He turned his attention back to her, and once again Sarah was struck by his deep, sea-blue eyes. How many times had he looked at her with those piercing blues, which seemed to see inside her down to the very depths of her soul?
    “I’m not afraid of anything,” Travis said.
    Her body responded, her nipples hardening to tight points at his blatant display of masculinity. She took a sip of her tea, trying to bring some normality back to her thoughts. Why, out of all the men available, was it Travis, the latest guy to start working for her, who had her so intrigued?
    Sarah hadn’t always been known for her sensible actions—she’d had to learn to be the way she was. To fight her own battles and always come out the victor no matter what the odds. After all, she was alone on this huge ranch in the middle of nowhere where God knew what could happen and no one would get to her in time.
    She could look after herself and didn’t need anybody—especially a man—telling her how to live her life. An invasion of wonderful memories of her father came to mind, and she released a sigh in protest then took another sip of tea. When alive, Daddy wouldn’t have allowed anything or anyone to hurt her, no matter what. Even when she’d gone into town, people had treated her with respect. Now, though, it seemed most single men were seeing her as an easy target—a woman who needed a man to run this ranch. Including that disgusting Clark James. That man gave her the creeps with his sneering mouth and perving hands. After only a few minutes in his company, she wanted to run home and take a long, steaming bath to rub his very essence away. In recent weeks he’d become way too familiar. The occasional brush of his body as he passed her in the hallway, even when there was plenty of room. A hand that seemed to have a mind of its own, twirling some of her long black hair.
    It was at times like these, being shown a lack of respect from some men, that Sarah really missed her father—the one man who’d shown her the respect she deserved.
    He’d been the only man she could stomach for large periods of time—until she’d met Travis.
    She glanced up into the eyes of Travis Williams, the man who’d entered her life a year ago and had invaded most of her waking thoughts. He was so different from every other man. He opened doors for her, and argued back at her as if she were an equal. He thought she didn’t know when he got hard, thoughtfully removing his Stetson to hide the tightness in his pants. Sarah was a woman, after all, and knew all about desire and lust, even if she’d never been fucked.
    Travis placed a hand over hers and gazed into her eyes, the kind of stare where she was sure he could see deep into her soul.
    “Where did you go?” he asked.
    “Huh?” She hadn’t been anywhere.
    Lightning streaked and thunder followed, the only noise breaking the silence of the room. They stayed perfectly still for several moments before Travis began talking, rewording the same question.
    “You seemed to be elsewhere just a second ago. Wondered where you went.”
    She shook her head against the fogginess consuming her. She must need an early night. All the hard work of the past few weeks was finally catching up with her.
    “I was just thinking about my dad and how it was different around here when he was alive and