Undeniable Demands Read Free

a powerful build. The large man seemed to take up all
the space in her trailer, which had always had the perfect amount of room for
her. It was as though he’d sucked up all the air, making her oddly warm and her
camper uncomfortably small.
    And she hated that about him.
    Without hesitating, she picked up her shotgun again.
Truthfully, it was loaded with shells full of recycled rubber pellets. She
carried it with her to the compost bin in case she needed to scare off any
foraging critters. She’d caught a black bear in the bin last week. The rubber
pellets would send animals scurrying without seriously hurting them. Hopefully
it would do the same with Wade Mitchell.
    “Do you mind stepping back outside? I spent a lot of money to
renovate this trailer and I’m not going to ruin it by shooting you in here.”
    Wade had only a momentary flash of alarm in his eyes before he
smiled at her in a way that made her cheeks flush and her knees weaken. She
remembered feeling that way whenever he would walk down the hallway past her
cubicle and greet her with “good morning.” She’d been fresh out of college and
in awe of the two young mavericks with their up-and-coming real-estate
development company. Alex Stanton was the golden playboy, but she was instantly
drawn to the darker, more serious Wade. Then and now, his wide grin and strong,
aristocratic features usually got him his way.
    If she wasn’t careful, she might fall prey to them again. She
knew better than to trust a guy like him.
    “Miss Sullivan, can we please talk about this without you
constantly threatening to shoot me?”
    “There’s nothing to talk about.” Tori kept the gun in one hand
while she pulled off her hat and scarf with the other. She was burning up, and
it had nothing to do with her new propane heating system. It was Wade and her
overheated and long-ignored libido. She hated that the man who’d betrayed and
fired her could still send her pulse racing after all this time. “And it’s rude
to come inside uninvited, so you deserve to be shot.”
    “I apologize,” he said, laying his coat across the bench seat
of her dining table. “But it is imperative that I discuss this with you
today.”
    Oh, she was sure it was. No doubt he had bought the forty-acre
property beside her and wanted her additional ten to add to whatever ridiculous
project he was developing out here. There might be an army of backhoes and land
movers over the horizon just waiting for her to sign off so they could start
their work. But she wasn’t giving up this land. This purchase had been years in
the making. Her genealogy research had been what lured her up here, but from the
first time she’d set foot in the area, she knew this was where she wanted to
build her home.
    Finding out the Edens were selling some property had been the
chance of a lifetime. The lot was perfect. It sloped down, slightly, but would
allow her to design a stilted, multistory home that had a living room with a
wide vista of windows overlooking the valley below. Being surrounded by two
hundred acres of tree farm on two sides guaranteed she wouldn’t have a strip
mall out her back door anytime soon.
    She had a couple months in between projects to start designing
and building her house. It was the perfect opportunity just when she had the
time and money to jump on it. And he couldn’t have it.
    “I know that you’re used to getting your way, Mr. Mitchell, but
I’m afraid it isn’t going to happen this time.”
    On cue, her electric teapot began to chirp on the counter and
spit out steam. She’d turned it on before she’d stepped out to put some trash in
her compost bin, and now it was ready for her to extend some unintended
hospitality. When she turned to look at Wade again, he had seated himself at her
dining-table booth, a look of smug expectation in his eyes.
    With a sigh, she set down the shotgun. It was hard to make tea
when you were holding a heavy, loaded firearm.
    “May I ask how much you