Chase Me by Elizabeth York Read Free Book Online Page A

strolled down my face. I stared into his brown eyes as Mike’s words stabbed me.
     
    “Kate, honey, if they can’t do surgery then they will send her home and allow hospice to come in and make her comfortable. I’m sorry sweetie.”
     
    I hung up the phone and handed the phone back to Eddie as the tears fell and I sobbed into my hands. He pulled me into his chest and I cried on him as he tried to soothe me. I felt safe and warm with him here, but leaning on a stranger was not something I did.
     
    The sound of the tow truck honking as he pulled away broke the embrace. I wiped my tears and stuttered over trying find a plausible lie, but the words wouldn’t come. Eddie wiped my tear off my cheek and whispered. “Sorry I ratted you out.”
     
    “I’m sorry,” I stated as I pulled back from him and wiped the tears that had fallen on his tie. “I don’t know you and here I am crying all over you.”
     
    “Sometimes the best place to find strength is in the arms of a stranger.”
     
    “Are you trying to get laid?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm.
     
    “No, just wanting to help. Scouts honor,” he whispered as he held up three fingers. I loved that he could show a hint of childishness. Made me feel like maybe he wasn’t a major asshat, but he was still in the minor league.
     
    “I can drive you home since your ride left, but if you try anything I will cut your balls off and hang them from my rearview mirror.”
     
    “Message received. I will make sure to keep my hand and feet inside the ride at all times,” Eddie replied and for a split second it made me smile.
     
    “Just give me a few minutes. Where do you live?”
     
    “Manhattan. You know I’m told I’m a good listener if you need to talk,” Eddie stated as I grabbed my heels off the floor and climbed into the Hummer with him.
     
    “Once I get her started I will turn on the alarm and lock up then I can get you over the river,” I explained as I pulled the wires down to show the electrical tape from where I had hot-wired it as a teenager.
     
    “You steal a lot of cars?” Eddie asked and I laughed through the new fog of depression that was hanging over me. Even through his humor I felt like I had lost a part of myself from the phone call.
     
    “I was a handful in my younger years. I did and said things I shouldn’t have and there are reminders of it everywhere.”
     
    “I want it notated for the record that you are committing this criminal act alone and I am the innocent bystander,” Eddie stated with his hands up.
     
    “Do you ever loosen your tie, Eddie?” I asked and he frowned. Business suits were all the same uptight, over-worked, under-paid people whose brains were focused on work twenty-three hours of the day and Eddies one hour off was already up.
     
    The wires sparked as Eddie climbed in the passenger seat and made a call to the tow truck company. Unleashing some of that alpha male testosterone I knew lingered beneath his lapel.
     
    The engine roared to life. I climbed out and turned out all the lights and the heater. I set the alarm on a delayed exit and then climbed back inside the Hummer. I pressed the garage door opener and the bay doors swung out to let me out. Then I drove Eddie home in uneasy silence because for the first time in my life I didn’t know what to say.
     

     

     

Chapter 6

     
    “Where are you headed?” Eddie asked as we headed into Manhattan.
     
    “Home,” I whispered.
     
    “Want some company?” Eddie asked and it made me do a double take.
     
    “I have a ninja roommate, pepper spray, and I have been trained to detach balls blindfolded on my knees with my hands tied behind my back,” I went full Days of our Lives with my answer including hand gestures and faked fearlessness.
     
    “I would expect no less from someone like you, but I was asking because I feel bad about making you cry. I feel like I owe you something.”
     
    “I wasn’t crying because of you. I can promise you I