Read It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 for Free Online

Annie said, her voice like an angelic song and somehow breaking through the white-hot rage that was enveloping Zach. “He doesn’t have to go into town. Zach can call the towing service from inside our house.”
    “Actually, the car belongs to a rental company, and they’ll send someone to tow it. But as late as it is, I don’t know if they can send someone today.”
    “Then you can stay in the foreman’s shack tonight,” Annie offered. Her expression was blank, but her offer sounded sincere.
    Mr. Cade looked mutinous. A vein pulsed in his forehead as he considered Annie’s practical solution. Zach could tell he’d rather shoot him than have him spend one night on the property. “Hmmph,” was all he said, turning back toward the house.
    “Thank you,” Zach said to Annie, meaning it, although he’d rather stay in town, if the truth were told. Annie was too enticing, and he had a feeling she knew it. But she’d taken up for him with her father, and hearing it had made Zach’s chest expand. “I appreciate your offer.”
    “Think nothing of it,” she replied, her eyes glinting like blue ice. “I’d have done the same thing for anybody.”

Chapter Three
    What the hell was that supposed to mean? Zach wondered. Annie had gone cold on him, sweeping into the house like a tornado. After a moment he followed her, jogging up the steps past the rattler. God, how he hated snakes. By the furious beating of its rattles, he could tell that creature highly desired to sink its fangs into him.
    Throwing the screen door open, he let it bang shut behind him. Cool air from whirring overhead fans touched his skin, and Zach stood still while his eyes adjusted to the dim hallway, just letting the soothing breeze wash over him.
    Mr. Cade’s face suddenly loomed near his, startling Zach out of his relaxed state. “If I catch you sniffing around my daughter, I’ll gut you like a catfish, boy,” he warned. Casting Zach a malevolent glare to make his point, the old man turned and shuffled down the hall. “Come on, Mary,” he called, as if he hadn’t just threatened a man’s life. “Let’s play cards.”
    Perspiration actually moistened the skin above Zach’s mouth. The old man hated him as badly as that damned snake outdoors did, and he didn’t doubt his threat. Annie was off limits. He stood rooted in the hallway until Annie returned.
    “The phone’s in the kitchen.” Annie’s soft voice caught Zach’s attention immediately. She was walking down the hall toward him, obviously coming from her bedroom. The worn-out jeans had been discarded and were replaced by a white gauze Mexican-style dress that looked cool and womanly on her. He couldn’t imagine LouAnn wearing something so unsophisticated.
    Following Annie into the kitchen, he watched as she tied a large apron over the dress before pulling out a couple of pots. A glance at his watch told him it was six o’clock, and he should be getting hungry. The thought of food held no appeal. Annie’s hair was woven into a tight braid, swinging down her back and revealing a delicious curve of neck. That was something he could imagine taking a bite of.
    But by the ramrod stiffness in her spine and the way she was studiously ignoring him as she went about her chores, Annie was plainly of the same opinion as her father. Off limits.
    That’s fine , Zach thought crossly, sitting down and pulling the phone close to him. Woman trouble was the very last thing he needed. LouAnn was going to be fried when she found out he wasn’t coming home. There was an important party being held in their honor tonight at the house of the governor’s best friend. Why did he have to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a couple of prickly country bumpkins?
    Absently, he dialed the rental car company and reported his problem. As he’d expected, the soonest they could come was in the morning. He hung up and glanced again at Annie’s back. Her competent hands flew as she mixed and stirred,