Twice the Trouble Read Free Page B

narrow back and pressed her closer. Her smell, her taste, her warmth…were even better than he remembered. He tried to relieve the throbbing tension in his groin by rubbing against her soft belly.
    The feel of his hard length must have brought Lacey to her senses. She pulled away touching her fingers to her lips and looking stunned. “We can’t do this. I’m not ready for this.”
    He’d been foolish to go so far, but Alex was an expert at covering his thoughts and feelings. He grinned and winked before he walked away. “Gotcha.”

Chapter Three
    “What took you so damned long to get back? It’s nearly dark outside.”
    Clarence Carlyle slowly lifted himself out of the rocking chair in Lacey’s living room. He looked older every day with thin, gray hair, and dull, lifeless eyes. His hands were covered with liver spots and the veins stood out on them. His lined face held a permanent scowl. How long had it been since the man felt the urge to smile?
    “You’re welcome to have supper here tonight, Granddad.”
    “You know I don’t see well enough to drive at night,” he roared. “I suppose, if I ran off into a ditch and died, it wouldn’t be any skin off your nose.”
    Lacey was never sure how to respond when he said things like that. She wondered if her grandfather had any love for her at all. She’d been nothing but a burden and a disappointment to him since her parents died. It was a fact he’d never hidden.
    “At least tell me that your trip wasn’t wasted,” he groused.
    “I spoke to the man who owns the real estate company. He wants to divide this place into two-acre lots and sell it off as ranchettes, but he’s agreed to give me a month to come up with the money to buy the whole place.”
    “It’s too bad you don’t have the money. This’ll be a miserable town if a bunch of city dudes move in trying to act like ranchers.”
    “Are you sure you can’t help me out, Granddad? I’d be guaranteed a loan with your signature.” Lacey hated to beg. Especially when she knew the outcome would be unsuccessful.
    Clarence Carlyle had been the president of Indian Lakes’ only bank for forty years. Everyone knew and respected him. Even though he was an unpleasant sort, you never knew when you might have to make a late payment or need a loan. He still carried a lot of clout in the community.
    “You moved out of my house eight years ago,” he said. “I told you then that this farm was a bad idea. You’re trying to do the work of a man. Nothing good can come from it. Now, maybe you can get a regular job and start acting like a woman. You’re lucky enough the man was willing to talk to you. Why he’d bother, I can’t imagine. Surely he could see that you’re not up for this responsibility.”
    Lacey’s face flamed with temper. “I’ve run this farm for eight years. It’s kept food on the table and a roof overhead.”
    Clarence sauntered to the door with a limp. “You’re going to have to figure this out on your own, girl. I’m too old to keep pulling you out of messes.”
    He didn’t know how badly those words hurt her. He probably wouldn’t care if he did.
    “The man’s looking for a wife,” Lacey informed him. “He says if I marry him, he’ll let me keep the place.”
    Clarence croaked out a dry laugh. “Are you that stupid? He’ll spend a night or two with you, and then be on his way. He’ll leave you out on the street. No self-respecting man would have anything more than that to do with you.”
    “What if the man was Alex Benson?” Lacey countered.
    Clarence stopped in the doorway. He looked more furious than Lacey had ever seen him. “After all I’ve done for you. I can’t believe that you’d speak that man’s name in my presence.”
    Lacey jumped when the screen door slammed behind him. He had a way of making her feel small and dirty. Sometimes she wished he’d let her be taken into foster care after her parents died. Her life would have been so much different now.
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