Deathwatch by Dana Marton Read Free Book Online Page A

lotion, a comb, toothbrush, toothpaste and not much beyond that. Like her clothes, her toiletries were sparse and nothing fancy, nothing that couldn’t be tossed into a suitcase at a moment’s notice, he noted.
    By the time he ambled back into the kitchen, wondering about her story, his breakfast was waiting.
    She refilled his juice. “Hey, ready to eat?”
    The mouth-watering aromas of bacon and fresh coffee floated on the air, the room bathed in the warm glow of the overhead lights, definitely a contrast to the gray winter morning outside. Kate stood in the middle of it all, smiling.
    Some unnamed emotion hit him in the chest, and he stared for a second. It was The Dream , wasn’t it? Most of them lonely bastards in the army wanted to come home to something like this: a beautiful woman in the kitchen cooking food for you with a smile on her face.  
    Except none of this was real. She wasn’t here for him . And she wouldn’t stay. He had no idea why that thought suddenly made him feel grumpy.  
    He frowned as he strode to his chair. “Thank you, Kate.”
    “ No problem. I hope you’ll like it.” She hovered in the kitchen.  
    “ Aren’t you going to eat?”  
    “ I’ll have something at work.” She wrung her hands then caught herself, dropped them at her side and forced another chirpy smile. “If you could stay with your brother—”  
    “ That’s not an option,” he cut her off before she could run too far with that fantasy. Doug’s wife, Felicia, wasn’t a fan of visiting relatives. She wasn’t a fan of Doug, either, really. Doug crashed on the living room couch here pretty frequently.  
    Kate glanced at the clock on the microwave. “I have to leave for work. Maybe we can talk when I come home later?”
    Stalling once again. Maybe she thought she could drag it out and make him put off the decision long enough for her to stay out her lease.
    “ You’re going to tell me what you’re so scared of?”  
    Her shoulders immediately snapped straight, a tough-chick expression coming over her face—incredibly sexy, even if she was faking it. Or maybe because of that. He found the contrast in her, between the woman she really was and who she wanted him to think she was, intriguing.
    Her chin came up. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
    “ Which is why you sleep with a loaded gun.”  
    “ It’s not much use unloaded.”  
    Okay, he had to give her that. “ If you’re in trouble, maybe I could help.”  
    “ Because you’re a cop?” Her tone turned derisive.  
    “ That and other reasons.”  
    “ No thanks. I’m a small town waitress who’s renting your house. End of story. If you’re looking for intrigue, go back to work.”  
    All right, so she put him in his place. Fine, rescuing damsels in distress wasn’t in his short-term plans anyway. For all he knew, she was a bank robber on the lam. That brought a few interesting thoughts. He cut them off as she walked away from him.
    He didn’t want to be intrigued by her, dammit. He’d come home for peace and quiet. But while he sipped his coffee and looked through the steam, he had a strong premonition that ship had already sailed, been set on fire by pirates and sunk into the sea.
    * * *
    Kate dragged on socks and her white work sneakers, shrugged into her coat then grabbed her purse on her way out. Gaining time was good. The two of them having a talk this afternoon was better than him putting her stuff out on the front porch right now. She could think while she was at work today, come up with a winning strategy.
    She was safe here, in Broslin, for the moment. She needed to stay put until she found the next safe place.
    “ Don’t worry about the dishes,” she called back from the door. “I’ll take care of that when I get back. Have a great day!”  
    She wanted, desperately, for him to like her enough to let her keep the lease.
    She pulled her twelve-year-old green Chevy out of the double garage and drove away, so busy