Defending Serenty by Elle Wylder Read Free Book Online

know
she’s thinking about Hunter Wallace. I don’t know what the story is
there and I don’t push for answers. She’s made it clear she doesn’t
want to talk about him.
    “So what are you going to do?” Faye asks.
    “I have no idea.”
    I need to stay away from him and I know it.
But I don’t think I have the willpower. Maybe I should take a
short, spur of the moment vacation. Get my head back on
straight.
    “Lynn,” she says, setting her hand over mine.
“You have to make a decision. If you’re going to be with a man like
him…”
    She lets the sentence trail off but she
doesn’t need to finish it. I know. I can have my life as I know it
now or Trace. For as long as he wants me anyway. I can’t have both.
Put that way, it’s an easy decision.
    “You’re right. This can’t happen. We needed
one night. Closure and all that crap. But that’s it.”
    “Good.”
    Faye squeezes my hand but Honor looks
unconvinced. I change the subject.
    “How’s work?”
    Honor is a personal assistant. She has two
part time clients that keep her hopping. We’re always on her to
slow down not that it does any good.
    “It’s good. I won’t be here for Christmas but
Grace will.”
    “They’re making you work the holiday out of
town?” Faye asks and I’m just as incredulous as she is.
    Honor shrugs. “Mark needs me on this business
trip. It’s fine. It’s just one year.”
    I know she makes great money and loves what
she does but I wish she’d be more assertive and learn to say no.
I’ll talk to Grace about it. Maybe she’ll have better luck. Faye, a
local DJ, entertains us the rest of lunch with outrageous stories
about her coworkers. All in all, it’s a good hour and I hate having
to go back to work. The afternoon drags on. I finish some paperwork
and write a couple speeding tickets before going home. Trace’s car
is parked out front when I pull in. Shit. Is he gonna cause a
scene? How did he get in?
    I find him in the kitchen cooking dinner and
the sight of him, only wearing jeans and stirring something that
smells divine, strikes me dumb. This is bad. I’m supposed to be
saying no. I’m supposed to be extricating myself.
    “What are you doing here?”
    He looks back over his shoulder. “Feeding
you. Someone has to.”
    I narrow my eyes at the implied insult. “I
can take care of myself just fine, thanks.”
    “Indulge me then,” he says and I wonder who
this stranger is.
    He’s much more relaxed than yesterday and
that can’t just be from sex. Even great sex. He starts opening
cabinets, searching for plates I guess and I drop my bag and move
to help. That’s when I get my first good look at his side and
chest. He has a nasty bruise stretching across the bottom of his
ribs and twisting down one side. I gasp and brush my fingers over
it.
    “What the fuck happened to you?”
    One day and he’s already in trouble? He
chuckles and I want to smack him upside the head. He takes my hands
away from the bruises.
    “It’s nothing, baby. I was sparring with Lake
this morning.”
    I feel the bottom drop out of my stomach. I
know what this means. I stare up at him and wish I still smoked.
The hell with it. I’m having one. And a stiff drink. I dig out a
bottle of whiskey from the cabinet, carry it and a glass to the
table, then get a small saucer and the last pack of cigarettes I
haven’t been able to make myself throw away. The lighter is right
there with it. I take a drink before I light up, doing my damnedest
to ignore Trace but he makes it impossible.
    “Those things’ll kill you,” he says.
    “Yeah,” I snap back. “So will illegal, no
rules, no holds barred fights.”
    I know about them, of course. Hell, I know
cops who don’t just go to them but participate. It’s a particular
brand of stupid some men seem to be into.
    “Serenity,” he says carefully. “There are
some things we probably shouldn’t talk about.”
    I stare at him. The man has lost his fucking
mind.
    “Why are you