Addicted to Love by Lori Wilde Read Free Book Online Page B

had X-ray vision and could see right through that wedding gown. In his mind’s eye she had on a lacy white bustier, white lace thong panties, thigh-high stockings ringed with blue flowered garters. He imagined himself undressing her with his teeth.
    Dammit. What was it about her that stirred the heaviness in his loins? How was she different from any of the other women he met in the course of his day? Why her? Why now?
    As if Rachael Henderson, great-granddaughter of one of Valentine’s founding fathers, daughter of the wealthiest man in town, would have anything to do with a gimp. She’d been engaged to a football player for the Chicago Bears. How was he supposed to compete with that?
    Good God, why would you even want to compete for her? The woman is a head case, not to mention a royal pain in the ass.
    But a very cute pain in the ass.
    He thought about the chinaberry tree incident when they were kids and it brought up a few other memories. He recalled one summer when their families had celebrated the Fourth of July together. They’d shot off bottle rockets together. He and Rachael; his sister, Deana; and her sister, Hannah. As the memory drifted over him he could smell the gunpowdery scent of exploded Black Cats, taste watermelon on his tongue, see Rachael’s face grinning in the glow of the porch light. How innocent and carefree they’d both been, unaware of the twists and turns the future held.
    “Make your move, Carlton,” Brody mumbled under his breath. “The past is past. Either take her home with you or call Deana and have her bring over a cot.”
    He weighed his options. Smart money said he should just stay here.
    As he watched the monitor, Rachael reached up to swipe away a tear sliding down her cheek. His heart knotted up. Damn. He couldn’t leave her in the cell overnight.
    What a sap.
    He might be a sap but he’d seen too many cruel and hurtful things. After he’d left Iraq he’d sworn to himself he’d do his best to ameliorate suffering whenever he had the chance. Cooling one’s heels in the Jeff Davis County slammer might not be a big deal to him, but it was to her.
    And that’s what mattered. Even if he didn’t trust himself around her.
    Brody got up and headed back into the holding cell. He’d left her alone most of the afternoon to think things through. The minute he appeared in the doorway, she straightened, sniffled, and blinked hard, trying to hide the fact she’d been crying.
    “You ready to go?”
    Rachael hopped off the bench, her eyes hopeful, her fingers laced together. “You’re letting me out? What about the mayor? I thought he was pressing charges.”
    “He is and I can’t turn you loose until tomorrow when Judge Pruitt arraigns you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put you under house arrest.”
    “You mean wear one of those little tracking monitor thingies on my leg?”
    “I don’t think that will be necessary in light of the fact the county doesn’t own one of those devices.”
    “Oh,” she said. “Are you just going to let me go home and come back tomorrow? Because in all honesty I’d rather stay here than go to my parents’ house.”
    “Really?” He eyed her.
    She waved a hand. “Long, miserable story.”
    “Actually,” he said, “I was thinking I’d take you home with me. It’s either that or I spend the night here with you.”
    “You don’t have to stay with me. I’ll be fine. Go home.”
    “Can’t. My deputy’s wife had her baby earlier than planned and both my jailers are off on vacation. I can’t leave you locked up in here alone. What if there’s a fire?”
    “Good point.”
    “Besides, you look like you could use a home-cooked meal and a change of clothes.”
    “You’re going to cook for me?” She sounded skeptical.
    “Not that I couldn’t,” he said. “But we’ll leave the cooking to my sister, Deana. She and her six-year-old daughter, Maisy, are living with me for a while.”
    “I see. So we won’t be all alone at your