The Dakota Man Read Free Page A

retirement and moved to Hawaii to relax after Dad’s mild heart attack. If I went there, in the mood I’m in, Mom would probably knock herself out to fuss all over me. Dad would likewise fret, curtail his golf games and try to distract and entertain me. And I’d feel guilty as hell because of it.”
    Hannah frowned but nodded. “I suppose.”
    Maggie soldiered on. “I also drafted a letter to my superior at work, giving my one-month notice of my intention to leave the firm.”
    Hannah’s eyes widened with alarm. “Maggie, you didn’t.”
    “I did,” Maggie assured her, raising a hand to keep her friend from interrupting. “What’s more, I faxed a Realtor I know, asking him if he’d be interested in listing my apartment for sale.”
    Hannah jumped from her chair. “Maggie, no.” She shook her head, setting her sleek, bobbed honey-brown hair swinging. “You can’t do that.”
    “I damn well can,” Maggie retorted. “My grandmother left this place to me, I own it free and clear.” She rolled her eyes. “And the forever taxes that go with it.”
    “But…” Her hair swung again, wildly. “Why? Where will you go? Where will you live?”
    “Why? Because I’m tired of the treadmill, nose to the grindstone, following the rules.” Maggie shrugged. “Who knows, maybe I’ll join the circus.”
    “I don’t believe I’m hearing this.” As if unable to remain still, Hannah began to pace back and forth in front of the table. “To give up your job, sell your apartment…” Hannah threw up her hands. “That’s crazy.”
    “Hannah—” Maggie came close to shouting “—I feel crazy.”
    “So you’re just going to take off?”
    “Yes.”
    “For how long, for Pete’s sake?”
    Maggie hesitated, shrugged, then answered, “Until I’m broke, or no longer feel crazy enough to break things and hurt people… Todd what’s-his-name in particular.”
    “Oh, Maggie,” Hannah murmured in commiseration, dropping onto her chair. “He’s not worth all this anguish.”
    “I know that,” Maggie agreed. “But knowing it doesn’t help. So I’m cutting out, cutting loose.”
    “But, Maggie…” Hannah actually wailed.
    Maggie shook her head, hard. “You can’t change my mind, Hannah. I’ve got the itch to run free for a while and I’m going to scratch it.”
    “But you must have some idea where you’re going,” Hannah persisted, always the one for detail.
    “No.” Maggie shrugged. “Who knows, maybe I’ll wind up in Nebraska.”

Two
    Three months later
    T he redhead knocked the breath out of him. A jolt of energy, physical and sexual in nature, made the body-blow a double whammy.
    Mitch was both shocked and confused by his reaction to the woman Karla ushered into his office. It certainly wasn’t that she was a stunning beauty; she wasn’t. Oh, it wasn’t that she was not attractive; she most definitely was, very attractive. But he knew many attractive and evena few stunning women, and yet he had never experienced such a strong and immediate response to any one of them.
    Strange.
    Baffled, yet careful not to reveal his condition, Mitch studied the woman as she crossed the room to his desk. On closer inspection, one might even concede she possessed a particular beauty…if one had a weakness for tall, slender women with creamy skin, a wide mouth with full lips, slightly slanted forest-glen-green eyes and long, thick hair of a deep shade of flaming red.
    Apparently, Mitch wryly concluded, he did have such a previously unrecognized weakness.
    At least, his knees felt a little weak; he felt the tremor in them when she drew closer.
    Up close, she looked even better…damn the luck.
    But, one thing was for certain, Mitch mused, she sure as hell hadn’t dressed to make an impression. Her casual attire made a silent declaration of her utter disregard for conventional, or his personal, opinion.
    She came to a stop next to a chair in front of his desk.
    Mitch came to his senses.
    Cursing his