[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
frustration.
She fiddled with the straw wrapper lying on the table in front of her. He placed his
hand over hers and stilled the motion. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to come out as an
order. I’ve seen the result of violence against women. We’ve been called out to assist on
a few cases of domestic abuse when a woman was injured. George is on the edge. He
could be the next guy we hear about getting arrested for beating his girlfriend.”
“I’m not his girlfriend, Jack.”
“I realize that.” He drew his fingers over hers in an involuntary caress. “What I’m
trying to say is that he’s dangerous. Cherry is nuts for being with him.”
“Cherry Guilett?”
“Yeah. She lives with him.”
Autumn made a soft noise of disgust. “I should have guessed. She was at the
warehouse fire the other day and she mentioned she had his car. She’s insane.”
It didn’t surprise Jack that Cherry had shown up at the fire. More than once he’d
looked around a fire scene and seen her there.
When the waiter brought their food, Jack watched Autumn pour vinaigrette dressing
on her salad with a nonchalance that made him wonder if she hadn’t perfected the skill of
stuffing her feelings down. She would have to jam back some emotions in her old line of
work. Crying would give the impression of weakness, even if the tears had nothing to do
with emotion.
He ate his BLT, and she dug into her salad with a distracted air. When the silence
stretched too long, he spoke. “Something bad happened between you and Beckett all
those years ago, didn’t it?”
She kept her gaze on her food. “Can we not talk about this right now? I don’t … it’s
all in the past.”
“A lot of things happened in our past. Did you talk to someone about it?”
“I didn’t talk with anyone about what happened between me and George.”
He swallowed hard. “What about the fire?”
“I discussed it with my Aunt Edith and Uncle Bedford after I left Clifton and moved
in with them after the fire. I talked mostly to my aunt. My uncle wanted to pretend it
didn’t happen, I guess.”
“You and I didn’t discuss the fire.”
“No, but you were a boy, and I was too young to know I should talk and release the
feelings.” She kept her gaze pinned to her food. “I remember after your father’s funeral.
You were so broken up. I don’t recall ever seeing a boy cry as hard as that before.”
A fiery lump settled in his throat. Old emotions returned, misery and a feeling of no
one understanding top among them. He put down his sandwich. “When you didn’t cry
and looked like a zombie at my Dad’s funeral, I thought you didn’t care.”
She looked up from her plate. “You know I cared.”
“I do now.”
Her gaze filled with sudden hurt. “I’m a control freak about certain things. I guess it
was a reaction to the chaos, and the only way I felt I could manage.”
“Did it help? Keeping all your emotions in check?”
Autumn shoved the lettuce around on her plate. “I’m not sure anymore.”
He hated the note of resignation in her voice. Suffering and a wave of anxiety took
over her expression. Glittering and sharp, an answering stab of empathy cut into his
midsection.
She crunched a piece of carrot. “It was sort of a shock. I blamed myself for about a
hundred things I couldn’t have prevented. And I felt betrayed. By everything and
everybody. I had no energy left to comfort you.” Her voice became raspy. “You were my
friend, but I abandoned you.”
Again he reached for her hand, pressing it gently. “It’s all right. Maybe someday
you’ll trust me enough to tell me what happened between you and Beckett.”
“It’s not a matter of trust. It’s in the past, and I don’t live in the past.” Her gaze
shuttered. “Can we start again and keep this light, Jack? I didn’t come to Clifton to rehash
the past. I needed time to chill, not dredge up old feelings and hurts.” Her gaze, always
spot-on and uncompromising, tackled his attention and held it securely. “I’m not staying
in Clifton.”
Okay, so that’s the way she really wants it. Part of him felt relief. After all, he didn’t
want things to become heavy either. He could exercise these physical cravings for her
without fear of her clinging or wanting something more. Good.
He nodded. “I understand.” He settled back in his seat and finished his BLT. “Sorry I
jumped into the deep end about Beckett. I was just worried he’d hurt you.”
“Thanks for caring.”
*
“Always.”
Jack’s scrutiny, assessing and disconcerting, sent fine shivers of desire through
Autumn’s belly. Thick and concentrated, all her primordial female desires flared. Her
nipples went hard and a delicious tingle throbbed between her legs. His thoughtfulness
and the hunger in his gaze sent fresh waves of sexual desire pulsing to the forefront. God,
she wanted him. But she didn’t want to talk about the past anymore, and the best way to
throw him off was with sex. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]