Davis, Keyonna - Faceless Enemy [Pine Valley 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Keyonna Davis Read Free Book Online Page A

cowboy.”
    She felt her cheeks heat up at the admission but couldn’t look away. The lust shining in Chase’s eyes held her captive. She had always had a small crush on him, but this was different. She wasn’t some gangly teen. She was a grown woman now. Kerri didn’t move when Chase stood and came to sit next to her on the bed. She held perfectly still when he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. His hand was so big that it covered the entire side of her face. She shivered, not because she was cold or frightened, but because his one touch sent tingles throughout her entire body.
    Chase leaned in to kiss her but stopped before his lips touched hers. Kerri whimpered and leaned in the last inch to meet his lips. Just as her lips touched his, Chase pulled away and stood between her and the door. Shocked at the abrupt loss, Kerri stared blankly at his back. Evidently she had been too caught up in the “almost kiss” that she didn’t hear the knock on the door. Obviously Chase did, because a second later the door eased open. Kerri saw his shoulders relax when he recognized whoever was there.
    He turned to her and smiled. “I will give you some privacy to get cleaned up.” With that he turned and walked out of the room, only stopping to kiss the girl standing at the door on the cheek.
    The girl was beautiful. She had long, black, curly hair and the same beautiful green eyes that Chase had. She was obviously related to him in some kind of way, but Kerri didn’t know how. She didn’t know anything about Chase’s personal life or family. The girl walked over and sat on the bed in the same spot Chase had just left and reached over to grab Kerri’s hand.
    “I recognize that look on your face,” she said, smiling. “For some reason, the Matthews men have that effect on women.”
    Unsure of what to say, Kerri just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Um…who are you?”
    “Oh, sorry, I’m just not used to seeing my brother with that look on his face, and then I came in and saw the same look on yours. I just couldn’t be happier.”
    Who is this chick? Why would Chase leave me alone with her? She obviously has some sort of mental issues. “Sorry, I’m doing it again aren’t I?” The girl squeezed Kerri’s hand and began shaking it. “I’m Alice, but everyone calls me Ali. I’m Chase’s sister. You will meet the rest of the family once we get you cleaned up and dressed. We would have met last night when you arrived, but you were knocked out. Probably the pain medicine.”
    Ali shook her head as if she were answering her own statement and went into the bathroom. Kerri could hear water running, and Ali came back out carrying a large bowl in one hand and a bar of soap in the other. She sat everything on the nightstand and leaned over to remove the sheet covering her. Kerri was too busy eyeing the steam coming off the water in the bowl to care about the invasion of privacy. Oh, how good would it feel to sink into that hot water right now? Hearing Ali laugh, Kerri focused her attention back on her. Ali was still giggling.
    “I see how you are looking at that water, and speaking from experience, I know exactly how you feel. Unfortunately for you, doctor’s orders say that you can’t get that leg wet, so a sponge bath will have to do for now. Once we are finished, I will change the bandage for you.”
    “Thank you.” Kerri felt tears of gratitude. “I don’t care if it is just a sponge bath right now. I just want to feel clean.”
    No other words were spoken as Ali helped Chase get cleaned up. Kerri didn’t let the fact that Ali said she was speaking from experience slip past her, but she let it slide. Maybe later, once she got to know the girl, she would ask what she meant. Once she was clean and mostly dressed, in a tank and brand-new panties that someone was thoughtful enough to buy, Kerri leaned back against the headboard. She was out of breath and tired. The blood loss had left her weak,