Here Comes Trouble Read Online Free Page A

it?”
    “Nothing,” he answered a little too quickly.
    “Nothing?” she answered back with a mocking tone of her own. “Let me take a look at it.”
    “That’s not necessary,” he said with a shake of his head.
    She offered him one of her sweet smiles, which probably came off more condescending than genuine. “I’ll make a deal with you. You let me look at whatever’s bothering your shoulder and I’ll tell you what’s really going on.”
    “Boy, you really want to get my clothes off, don’t you?”
    “Forget it.” She turned toward the door. It was impossible to have a serious conversation with a man who thought every woman wanted to get in his pants.
    “Lacy,” he started with the chuckle of his she always found way too sexy. “I’m kidding. Come on, don’t walk away mad.”
    When she turned back around, he’d stood from the desk. He towered over her at six-foot….well she didn’t know exactly how tall he was. But he was really tall. Lacy stood at an average five-seven and Chase had to be a good six or seven inches taller than her.
    “You never did take a joke very well.”
    She planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t appreciate being teased when I’m trying to help someone.”
    He held his hands up in defense. “All right, calm down. If you’re that worried, you can look at it. But don’t forget your end of the deal.”
    “Yes, Daddy.”
    That remark earned another teasing smile. When she stopped in front of him, he flicked the end of her nose with his index finger. “You’re so cute when you get riled.”
    “Oh, is that why you do it? Turn around,” she said before he had a chance to reply. “On second thought, you need to sit down.”
    He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Why?”
    “You’re too tall. It’ll be easier for me to check your shoulder if you’re sitting.”
    A pregnant pause filled the air before he answered. “I don’t think it’s my shoulder. The burning feels like it’s in the middle of my back.”
    “Burning? What kind of burning?”
    His wide shoulders moved in a shrug. “I don’t know, just burning.”
    “When did this burning start?”
    Another pause. “This morning.”
    “Okay,” she said, unsure of what to say next. “You have to take off your shirt.”
    In one fluid motion, he pulled the shirt out of his pants and drew it over his head. The whole time, Lacy watched, fascinated with the way each muscle moved beneath the tanned skin. She’d seen him without his shirt before, years ago at the local lake. He’d been a boy then, somewhere around seventeen or eighteen. Years had made him bigger, taller and wider. She could count each defined muscle in his back just from watching him move. But she wouldn’t. That would be too…well, she just wouldn’t.
    Without his shirt, Lacy became painfully aware of how low his jeans hung on his hips. His skin looked like satin over muscle, and she wanted to run her hands all over so her fingers could feel each and every ridge.
    When she focused her attention on her task and not how delicious he was, she noticed four thin, long, bloody scratches. Right in the middle of his back.
    They looked painful. Lacy also knew exactly what they were the second she looked at them. Fingernail scratches.
    “Um…” she cleared her throat and touched her index finger to one of them. “How’d you get these?” Her finger came away clean as the blood had long since dried. But they had bled.
    “I’m not sure.” This time he cleared his throat. “Exactly.”
    Okay, liar .
    “Do you have any rubbing alcohol in here?”
    He threw an alarmed glance over one thick shoulder. “Why?”
    “Chase, these have to be cleaned. Do you know how much bacteria is underneath a human fingernail?”
    When he turned, she had to back up so he wouldn’t consume her personal space. “What makes you think these were done by fingernails?”
    She held up one hand. “Look at my nails. They’re almost the exact size of those