Cathryn Fox by Regina Read Free Book Online Page B

his way.”
    Once he had her completely naked, he helped her into the tub and plunked himself down beside her on the edge.
    “You’re staying?” she asked.
    “Yeah.” But when she grabbed the soap and began to lather herself up, running her silky hands over her gorgeous breasts, stopping to pay extra attention to those pert little nipples of hers, his cock stiffened to the point of pain.
    “Something wrong?” she asked nonchalantly.

    He cleared his throat. Okay, so she might have won this round, but he was intent on winning the war. “Fine, I’m leaving. I’ll make coffee. Call me when you’re ready to get out.”
    “I can get myself out.”
    Carter cursed under his breath as her self-satisfied chuckle followed him down the hall. He went about making coffee and grabbed some eggs from the fridge. He scrambled them and made toast.
    When he stepped into the other room to set the plates on the dining-room table, he noticed the row of pictures on Ally’s side table. He’d seen them before, but this time one picture in particular stood out, probably because it had been moved to the front. In it, Ally and her dad had big smiles on their faces, and from the background he could tell they were at Harry’s.
    He picked it up and studied it. Although he’d never met her dad, Carter knew he was a good man and decorated cop. He also knew how close Ally and her dad had been, and just how much of a toll his death had taken on her.
    He heard a slight movement behind him and turned to find Ally hobbling toward him. Dressed in a knee-length nightgown, she looked warm and cozy.
    She looked like home.
    He frowned. “Hey, you were supposed to call me.”
    Instead of arguing her glance fell on the picture, and in a low tone steeped in sadness, she said,
    “You remind me of him in so many ways.”
    Carter didn’t miss the emotion in her voice. “Really? I’m honored.”
    A long pause and then, “He took unnecessary risks and went headfirst into everything too. Just like you.”
    “He was a good man.”
    “Yes, he was. We lost him too soon.”
    The haunting pain in her eyes triggered something in the back of his brain, but it was just too far out of reach for him to remember. She plucked the picture from his grasp and put it back on the wooden cabinet. That was when Carter noticed the water in her eyes, and his heart went out to her.
    “Mmm, eggs,” she said, redirecting the conversation, the way she always did whenever her father’s name came up.
    He studied her, trying to figure out what was niggling at the back of his brain, and then suddenly it hit him like a round of C4. He’d seen that same pain in her eyes earlier tonight, a rawness that spoke of deep-seated fear. But until now, he’d never really understood what she was afraid of, or what was going on inside her head. As he considered his epiphany, he felt the room sway and gripped the edge of the table.
    Jesus Christ, why hadn’t he clued in to it before?
    Allison had always been concerned about his image, but what he hadn’t realized until now was that her concerns went far deeper than that. She didn’t want him to take risks and go against protocol merely because it looked bad on him. No, she was worried about his safety. Worried about losing him. The same way she’d lost her father.
    He touched her shoulder lightly, and she turned to him. She raised a questioning brow as her eyes searched his face. “Carter?”
    His gaze surfed over her features, his mind searching for answers and trying to sort things through. Surely to God that had to be the reason why she’d pushed him away some four months ago, right around the time he’d dodged a bullet in a shoot-out. Yes, they’d fought. All couples fought. But he always felt there was more to their split. Clearly, fear of losing him had been holding her back from loving him.

    As he ran through the events, everything in his gut told him that she’d pushed him away on a subconscious level. He really believed his