Sunset Surrender Read Free Page A

she can stay on and I’ll buy you out. That’ll solve your problem.”
    Sophia crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at him. “You go straight to hell.”
    Logan grinned. He couldn’t help it. He’d succeeded in rankling her. Up until this point, she’d been a cool customer. But he’d be darned if the woman didn’t just get prettier with her face heating up and her eyes shooting sparks. “I’m just telling you like it is, Sophia. Mrs. Polanski has managed the place going on eight years now. She’s good and the guests like her.”
    “And you left it up to me to fire her. How sweet of you.”
    “Something has to give. It seems my father didn’t think of everything when he gave away our lodge.”
    “I only have half ownership. He didn’t give it all away.”
    “I bet you wish he had.”
    She lifted her perfectly sculpted chin and replied without pause. “Yes, sure. I wish I had full ownership.”
    Logan eyed her. He hadn’t expected her to admit it.
    “Maybe then I wouldn’t have to deal with you...or fire an employee.”
    Now, Logan’s blood boiled. “That lodge has been in the Slade family for generations. It was a little hole-in-the-wall inn for drifters and penniless soldiers after World War II, until my grandfather came along and built it into the fine establishment it is today. You tell me how you figure into that picture?”
    Sophia raised her arms into the air, her temper flaring. “I don’t know why your father was so generous with me, Logan. I don’t know what you want me to say, but obviously your father had faith in me to do the job right. I’m here now and I am going to manage the lodge. If I have to let someone go, I’ll do it. But,” she said, pointing her finger at his chest, “I can assure you, I will not forget that you placed me in this position the very second I stepped onto the ranch.”
    “That’s the way I want to be remembered, Sophia. As the guy who is going to test you, time and again. You don’t belong here, but I won’t stand in your way, either, if you do a good job. And don’t worry, I’m relinquishing my duties at the lodge to Luke. You’ll deal with him from now on.” He dropped the keys into her hand. “Starting tomorrow.”
    She closed her hands around the keys. “I didn’t want to start out like this, Logan.”
    He opened the car door for her and spoke with as much civility as he could muster. “Half a mile down the road. I’m sure you remember how to get there.”
    “Yes, I do remember,” she said. As she squeezed past him to get into the car, her knockout breasts brushed his chest and the firm contact, along with the stirring scent of her erotic perfume, assaulted him like a blow to the gut.
    He closed the car door, and watched her Camry vanish into the horizon as half a dozen curses slipped out of his mouth.
    * * *
    The second Logan was out of sight in her rearview mirror, Sophia slumped her shoulders and loosened the tight grip she had on the steering wheel. She eased her foot off the pedal a little and let the car amble along the road that led to Sunset Lodge. She simply would not think of Logan Slade again. He angered her, but he also thrilled her, and it was an emotion she didn’t welcome—and one she tried to will away. Her mother had once told her that matters of the heart could not be explained or understood. They just were. Sophia would not be a fool in regard to Logan Slade. He’d offered her a small fortune just to be rid of her. How could she feel anything for him but disdain?
    Certainly, she could avoid him while living here. Nestled between the grand Sierra Nevadas and Carson City, Sunset Ranch was vast, spanning miles in a diamond-shaped perimeter. Tomorrow, when Luke arrived home, she’d renew their friendship and she’d deal with him on matters involving her lodge duties. At least she had one friend on Sunset Ranch she could count on.
    “Don’t you worry about a thing, darlin’,” he’d said. “I’ll make sure