Rachel And The Tough Guy by Jeanne Allan

Author:Jeanne Allan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Treasury-Harlequin Romance 90s
Published: 2011-06-03T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

“ONLY an idiot would believe something so preposterous.”

Nicholas reached for his crutch and pulled himself to his feet. “I had you believing me for a while, didn’t I? You’re such a bleeding heart, I thought it would be fun to pull your leg.” He went out to the screened porch, pulling shut the French doors behind him. Making it very clear he wanted no company.

She eyed him through the glass-paned doors uncomfortably aware of a sudden, sinking feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. What if Nicholas hadn’t been pulling her leg but had been sharing his innermost conviction? If there was one thing she detested, it was a teacher’s failure to treat a child’s feelings with care and delicacy. Feelings couldn’t be right or wrong. She didn’t believe in telling a child he should or shouldn’t feel a certain way. Yet she’d treated Nicholas’s revelations with all the delicacy and finesse of a platoon of boot-clad moose marching through a strawberry patch.

Irritation swept over her. Talk about delusional. He’d been playing on her sympathies, and she’d almost fallen for it. Instead of tracking down crooks, Nicholas Bonelli ought to be giving lessons on how to deceive unsuspecting victims.

It wasn’t as if one needed a gene which predisposed one to falling in love. How gullible did he think she was? Next he would have claimed he couldn’t fall in love because of flawed DNA or something equally absurd.

Even more absurd was the idea of Nicholas Bonelli baring his soul. He’d been making fun of her, pure and simple.

Unbidden came the memory of her mother’s recuperation from major surgery several years ago. The normally stoic Gail Stuart had behaved in sometimes frightening, emotional ways. Mrs. Stuart later described her state as one of disconnectedness, in which she seemed to have no control over her brain or her emotions. A condition she’d blamed on the aftereffects of the anesthetic.

Nicholas had undergone surgery for his separated shoulder. According to Dyan, he’d been under the anesthetic for almost two hours while they inserted a pin.

Rachel mentally slapped herself. Nicholas was right about one thing. She suffered from a chronic case of niceness. Assigning genuine emotion to a man like him. He played the field because he was immature. He wasn’t incapable of falling in love. He was incapable of settling down. A kid in a candy store, he couldn’t settle on one. piece of candy.

And if he could, he sure wouldn’t pick Rachel Stuart.

Rachel sank down in the chair Nicholas had abandoned. Where had that ridiculous thought come from? She didn’t care if Nicholas could fall in love. She cared about clearing her father. She didn’t want Nicholas’s heart. She wanted his detecting skills.

The sound of creaking wicker came from the porch. Rachel acknowledged another nagging thought. Nicholas had less trouble getting around. His ligaments and bones were healing. He’d soon abandon the crutch. And Rachel. Time was running out. She had to come up with some way to convince him to help her.

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