The Witch's Stone Read Online Free Page A

eyes?"
    "Well…I…"
    "The answer is no."
    “I think ye’re overreacting.”
    “Am I? How silly of me to not enjoy having you ogle me uninvited.”
    "That's no’ what I'm doing at all."
    “Do you honestly believe you’re so irresistible that simply seeing you on my bed would have me jumping your bones?”
    “It wasnae like that. I thought this was my room. Seeing you in yer underwear was a mistake. I thought you were hitting on me.”
    “Sure you did.”
    “Do you think ye’re so irresistible then, that every man who meets you is just dying to crawl into bed with you? Let me assure you, that’s no’ the case. When I saw you downstairs, I found you as pleasant to look at as a drowned rat. Sleeping with you was the furthest thing from my mind.”
    “Well, good.” Her feelings were not hurt. Just because she had initially found him quite attractive was no reason to take offence. Since then she’d discovered he was a rude, self-absorbed creep with about as much charm as a drunken frat boy.
    She bent, lifted his computer bag and thrust it at him. As he pulled the strap over his shoulder, she grabbed his suitcase from the floor. When his gaze met hers, she shoved the case against his chest. He wrapped both arms around it and glared, his blue eyes blazing.
    Hillary opened the door and stood aside. "Now get out."
    "Happily."
    Once on the other side of the threshold, he opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could get the words out, she slammed the door shut.
    Done and done.
    She brushed her hands together as if wiping away a layer of dust and started to the bathroom to run that bath. The knock&--which sounded more like a kick&--stopped her.
    "Take a hint," she muttered, before yanking the door open.
    He stood as she'd left him, laptop bag on his shoulder, still clutching his suitcase and glaring. "I’ve left my shoes next to the bed."
    With a loud sigh, she snatched both shoes from the floor and for a moment considered throwing them at him.
    "Dinnae do it," he said, clearly reading her thoughts.
    She shrugged and somehow managed to resist the urge to whack him upside the head with one as she tucked them under each of his arms.
    "Would you mind opening the door across the hall for me?" He kept his tone formal and cool.
    "Whatever is going to make you go away faster." She crossed the hall and pushed the door open. The room beyond was dark, but even with only the hall light the pale green paint on the walls was clearly visible, as were the tiny white and green flowers on the bedspread. "The green room."
    "Aye, so it is."
    He moved past her, and, without turning, kicked the door shut in her face.
     
     
    “Bristol offered to introduce me to James Douglas,” Hillary said to Joan as she settled in the parlor with her tea. A fire crackled in the fireplace next to her, the flames casting long shadows on the far wall. “He thinks that James might be open to letting me have a look at the journals.”
    Joan pursed her lips and held out a tray of cookies. “Aye, well Bristol has more faith in the man than I do.”
    Hillary shook her head in refusal to the sweets. She was so full from dinner she couldn’t possibly eat anything else. “Why do you say that?”
    “James Douglas is a hard man, pretentious and self righteous. He tried to have Agie declared senile.”
    “Really?” Hillary’s stomach slid to her feet.
    Joan nodded. “Aye, about five years ago. He had her investigated so she’d be forced into an old age home.”
    “Why?” Please let it be out of concern for his poor, aging aunt.
    “For Glendon House. After his father died, James felt the house should have been turned over to him. But David was very different than his son. A mild sort, kind and unpretentious. I suspect David was afraid James would toss Agnes out and leave the poor woman destitute. His fear wasnae unwarranted.”
    The tiny ember of hope Bristol had sparked fizzled. “Obviously, his plan failed.”
    Joan chuckled. “In the