Creation of Desire by Leah Brooke Read Free Book Online

into them that often. It made her realize just how hard they’d worked in the past to avoid her.
    She had no such luck in avoiding them.
    Chase just happened to be in the grocery store when she shopped, something that had happened only a handful of times since she’d moved to town.
    “Chase is looking at you like he’d like to eat you up,” Isabel murmured as she rang up her order.
    Rachel looked over to where Chase stood staring at her, angry at herself because she’d known right where he’d been standing. “He had a bite and spit it out. How much do I owe you?”
    When she went to the bank to make the deposit for her store, Boone came in and stood in line right behind her.
    “Baby, can we come over tonight to talk to you?” he asked next to her ear.
    Rachel turned and walked out of the bank without a word.
    She couldn’t eat at the diner without running into them. She went to the Erickson’s one night to talk to Jesse and they both showed up to help Clay, Rio and the boys with something next door. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear the whole town conspired against her as she ran into Boone and Chase every day.
    Her anger had worn off and depression set in, and she became more and more lethargic. By the time she closed the store every day, she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open.
    One day, about six weeks after their night together, Boone and Chase walked into her store just before closing.
    “I’m getting ready to close. If you’re shopping for your current lay, you’re going to have to hurry. I’m tired and I want to go home.”
    She turned away but Boone grabbed her arm and spun her back around to face him. His angry scowl blurred, and she watched as though from a distance as his angry scowl became concern, then everything went black.
    She opened her eyes to find herself lying on the carpet with Boone and Chase leaning over her. She fought not to react to the concern on their faces and struggled to get up.
    “Stay still, baby.” Boone touched her cheek softly. “What happened? Are you sick?”
    “We’d better get her to Doc Hansen’s.” Chase moved as though to lift her.
    “I’m fine.” Rachel fought against their hands as they tried to restrain her and stood, moving away from them. “I got busy and forgot to eat. That’s all.”
    They looked at each other, and then back at her.
    Boone’s face tightened. “I still think you should let Dr. Hansen take a look at you. You’re white as a sheet, and you look like you’ve lost weight.”
    Rachel turned her back to them and frantically flipped through her mental calendar. Oh God. She couldn’t be. She carefully schooled her features before turning back to them. “I already talked to Dr. Hansen,” she lied. “I’m anemic. He gave me some vitamins. I just forgot to eat. Was there something you wanted? If not, I’d like to close up.”
    “Honey, when are you going to talk to us?” Chase asked softly. “We’ve tried to talk to you so many times but you never want to listen.”
    “How about if we take you to the hotel for dinner?” Boone asked. “We can talk there.”
    Rachel sighed tiredly. She wanted to get away from them before they suspected the truth. Now she would have to go see the doctor. “I’m tired. I don’t feel like going out. I don’t feel like having company or talking. I want to grab something to eat, take a bubble bath and go to bed.”
    She couldn’t prevent the shiver of awareness that went through her when Chase touched her arm.
    “Honey, please. Boone and I care about you very much. We’ve given you more than enough time.”
    “We really need to talk, Rachel.” Boone sighed impatiently. “You’ve avoided us long enough.”
    “We have nothing to talk about. You wanted an easy fuck, and you got one.”
    “Damn it, Rachel,” Boone growled. “That’s not what happened between us that night, and you damned well know it. We care about you. Give us a chance to work this out. Give us a chance