Free Caught Between a Lie and True Love (Caught Between series Book 1) by Sheila Seabrook Page A

motorhome.
    With a determined set of her mouth, Matilda shifted her attention back to the leaves in the gutter and off the man who rocked her world every Tuesday and Thursday night. As she stretched one arm to further her reach, and clung to the ladder so she wouldn’t topple off it into the flowerbed, she heard the sound of a foot scraping across the cement behind her.
    She caught her breath and closed her eyes, giving a silent hallelujah as relief weakened her knees.
    Harry was back.
    He’d seen the error of his decision. He was here to clean her gutters and inform her he’d return that big, ugly motorhome.
    Beneath her, she felt the ladder tip to the right. She snapped open her eyes and grabbed onto the metal gutter, feeling it give way to the pull of her weight and the ladder combined.
    And then she felt a pressure against her butt—Harry’s familiar touch—and the ladder steadied and straightened.
    With her heart thundering beneath her breast, she took a deep breath, willed her expression into a chilly unwelcome mask, glanced over her shoulder at the man standing below…and blinked.
    The nice looking man with concern furrowing his brow wasn’t Harry at all.
    “Excuse me, Miss, are you all right?”
    Miss? She blinked again, momentarily confused, and glanced across the street toward Brody's house. Disappointment warred with anger. Couldn’t Harry see her cleaning the gutters? He knew how much she hated dirt and heights.
    “Do you need me to climb up there and help you down?”
    Matilda forced the emotions down deep before they raged out of control. She stuck her gloved hand back into the gutter and mucked out another disgusting handful of leaves. “Whatever you’re here to sell, I’m not interested.”
    “I’m not here to sell anything. You looked like you needed assistance, so I’m here to offer it. No strings attached.”
    “I don’t—” She felt something caress her butt and realized the hand she’d thought was Harry’s was really a stranger fondling her ass. She stiffened and gave him her best glare. “Please remove your hand from my body.”
    The man moved into her line of vision, smiled up at her, and she caught her breath. Dimples formed deep grooves on his cheeks and a warm amused light shone from his light blue eyes.
    “It wasn’t deliberate, you know. I was seriously concerned that you might fall and hurt yourself.”
    She turned her back on him and carefully stepped down the ladder, only releasing her breath when her feet were planted squarely on the sidewalk. “I’m quite fine. There’s no need for concern.”
    “I see that now. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
    His voice sounded familiar too. Facing him, she realized she had to look up to see his face. He was almost as tall Harry and nearly as broad in the chest. “Do I know you?”
    He reached out one hand. “Jeb Calhoun. I’m here to check on my mother.”
    Olivia’s son.
    As relief swept through her body, he took her hand in his.
    His palm whispered against hers, warm and soft and smooth, and desire pulsed in her womb. Nerves that she hadn’t experienced since she was thirteen and experiencing her first crush sizzled through her body. “Oh my, Olivia’s son. Where are my manners? I’m Matilda Hannibal.”
    He gave a half bow over their joined hands, then kissed her hand, which was very sweet and gentlemanly and so old fashioned, she felt a tug somewhere deep inside. Her mama would have liked this man…right before she locked her daughter in her room.
    As he straightened and gazed into her eyes, the hardness around her heart melted. “At your service, Ma’am.”
    She laughed softly, and touched her throat with one hand while she extracted her other hand from his, and on shaky legs, backed up a step. “I owe you a huge thank you.”
    “No need.” He grinned down at her, the dimples deepening. “Damsels in distress are my specialty.”
    She almost giggled, but before she could embarrass herself further, a door