Cold Deception by D.B. Tait Read Free Book Online Page A

responded to her as more than just a damsel in distress and by the perplexed frown that stayed on his face for most of their encounter, he wasn’t happy about it either.
    There was something about him, something repressed and exciting. Like he wanted to devour her whole but couldn’t let himself want. She knew all about that. Wanting was dangerous. Better to always be in control of emotions, desires, or anything else that could betray you. Most women in jail never learned that most basic of lessons. Not her. She was the mistress of control. But the feel of his hands on her as he led her across the square stayed with her. He was strong, but not overbearing. He knew immediately what was wrong with her and hadn’t taken advantage.
    And those eyes… Cold when he needed to show contempt, then stormy and passionate against his better judgement. But she couldn’t deny seeing concern there too. She shifted in her seat, annoyed at the blossoming of sexual interest in her body. Just her luck to get interested in the last man in the world she’d ever consider as a sexual partner. An anonymous fuck was what she needed. Or what her mates in custody talked about, a friend with benefits, who could be relied upon for sex with no attachment. Problem was, she didn’t know anyone. Maybe the cop…
    All that strength and concern just for her.
    All those muscles and that burning gray gaze sliding over her skin…
    They could keep it secret. Just between them. Illicit and forbidden. Maybe he was married. They could meet in some out-of-the-way place like a seedy motel and have wild, uncontrolled sex… and maybe pigs would fly and the sun turn purple. She held her hands to her over-heated cheeks, appalled and amused at the twists and turns her crazy thoughts took her on. No doubt about it, long dormant desire was making a comeback.
    Her number was called by the young woman who smiled at her and told her to sit in a chair in front of a camera. She took her photo, while all the time chatting about the weather, wondering if it would snow so early in the season.
    “There you are, Julia,” she said, after all the paperwork had been done and the plastic card presented to her. “A nice new license. This one even has a halfway decent picture of you. You should see mine. I look like I’m dying of some horrible disease.” She laughed. “Say hello to your mom for me.”
    Julia stared at her nonplussed. “You know my mother?”
    “Sure, everyone knows your mother. She’s a Katoomba fixture. I did one of her art classes a couple of months ago. She was so excited about you coming home. How’s it going? Everything okay?”
    Julia couldn’t speak from the tears tightening her throat. She nodded.
    “Great,” said the woman. Mel was the name on her name tag. “Take it easy.”
    Julia nodded again and made her way to the exit. Tears blurred her vision. She thought hostility would be the hardest to bear but Mel’s simple kindness made her want to howl. So much for control.
    Julia left the building and started to make her way across the square to the Parole Office, next to the Court House. Weariness swept down on her again. It seemed every time she experienced some intense emotion she wanted to sleep. She knew what her psychiatrist would say.
    “You’re depressed, Jules. You want to escape in dream land. You’ve got two choices. I can give you some medication or you can start moving. Get those endorphins going.”
    That’s when she’d taken up walking. In her cell, around and around the compound, then when she hit minimum security at Emu Plains, down to the dairy to milk the cows.
    Dr. Devlin was right. It did help. She spent most of her sentence walking.
    But now she couldn’t face another intense experience. Seeing her parole officer wouldn’t be a picnic. Her appointment was at eleven a.m. and it was only ten fifteen, which astonished her. She felt she’d lived through a whole day. Maybe she could nick over to Zuppa’s and get some