Her Mother's Killer by Melissa Schroeder Read Free Book Online Page B

describing it. She’d been ready to strip herself down and jump Duncan’s bones just minutes before her brother showed up. Twice in less than two days now she had found herself lip-locked with Duncan. Not like she hadn’t enjoyed herself. Just thinking about it made her blush. Jesus, in all the years she’d been married to Jason, she’d never felt that electric jolt to her system just from a kiss. Lord only knew what would happen to her if they ended up in bed together. There was a good chance they would combust.
    “Thea?”
    Gwen was looking at her strangely. Thea realized her friend had been trying to get her attention for some time.
    “What?”
    “I asked you how long Jed was in town for, but you were off woolgathering.”
    Thea glanced over her shoulder at her brother. He wasn’t looking at them, but talking to Chris. Her attention drifted to Duncan who was the only one watching them. His heated stare drifted down her body, then back up to her face. But the time he made eye contact again, her body was heated.
    “Thea!”
    She swung back around to face her friend. “What? Oh, Jed. He didn’t say, but I think he won’t be here long. If he is banged up because of something going wrong, he will have to go back to Austin for all the paperwork and stuff.”
    “Did he say what happened?”
    “No, and I didn’t ask. I learned a long time ago not to ask because he wouldn’t talk about it.”
    Gwen nodded and Thea noticed the sadness in her gaze as she stared at Jed. Damn her brother for being so stubborn that he drove off everyone who cared about him.
    “I have a feeling he’ll bunk down with Duncan tonight and then head back to Austin.”
    “I thought he might stay longer since you’re here,” Gwen said.
    Thea shook her head. “He won’t have much time on his hands. He took too much leave when I had my accident.”
    Selma walked up with a smile. “Brisket’s ready and I advise you all to get in there before the men. If I know my boys and Jed, there won’t be much left by the time they’re done.”
    * * * *
    “I heard Thea is staying with you,” Jed said from behind Gwen.
    Her heart skipped then beat so furiously she was sure everyone around her heard. It took her a minute or two to calm herself down before she could answer. She didn’t look at him, but kept concentrating on picking her drink out of the cooler. “You heard right.”
    When she said nothing else, she sensed Jed shifting behind her. She couldn’t stand it, she had to know what he was thinking so she grabbed a diet cola and turned to face him.
    Damn it, how did he get better looking?  It wasn’t fair. Not only did he look like he got the hell beat out of him, but it made him even more attractive, in a scruffy sort of way. The lines around his light green eyes added to his appeal, as did the twenty or so pounds he’d piled on after school. Men sucked. They could gain weight and it helped their looks. Gwen had to fight even a five pound gain before comments were made.
    He settled his hands on his hips and gave her a nasty stare. She guessed that was supposed to scare her but it didn’t. Even though she knew this wasn’t the sweet boy she dated, she also knew he would never hurt her physically.
    “Why didn’t you call me?” he growled.
    She blinked. “Call you?”
    “When Thea contacted you, you should have called me.”
    Anger sparked through her blood. She counted backwards from ten before answering. “First of all, Thea is an adult. She doesn’t need me to check with her older brother to see if it was okay. Secondly, if I wanted to, how the hell would I find you?”
    “You could have if you wanted to.”
    His mulish expression told her that he knew he was losing an argument before it started. It was odd to know someone so well, but not know him at all.
    “And just how was I supposed to find you? We’ve barely spoken in the last few years. I know where you work, what your job is, but I don’t even know where the hell you