Impulse: Southern Arcana, Book 5 by Moira Rogers Read Free Book Online Page A

sleeping curled around him.

Chapter Four
    At one point, Julio had doubted that Sera would gladly suffer in silence rather than ask for help. Now, he knew it for the truth.
    He watched as she hesitated in the doorway and peered into the guest bedroom. “Will this be okay?” he asked, just to be sure. Maybe she’d have preferred one of the apartments they kept empty but ready to accommodate visitors.
    “It’s nice.” She clutched her half-full duffel bag, and she’d seemed pathetically grateful that he let her carry it up the stairs instead of plucking it out of her hands. “Perfect, really.”
    He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The, uh, bathroom’s across the hall, and I’m at the end of it. My room, I mean.”
    “All right.” She ventured across the threshold, then turned to look at him. Wry amusement filled her hazel eyes as she took a blind step back. “This isn’t how I usually go home with men.”
    Of course it wasn’t. Men had been sniffing around her since her return to New Orleans, and she’d had no reason to deny herself. “Guess not.” He dragged his gaze from the pale curve of her neck. “We should figure out what to do about your ex.”
    Both of her eyebrows shot up. “I thought I was staying with you because Anna’s going to go scare a few decades off his life.”
    “Not quite.” He’d dispatched Anna to follow Josh and make sure he went home instead of hanging around New Orleans. If she scared him, all the better, but it wasn’t the goal. “As long as he’s out of town, he’s none of our concern. That’s the preferable solution all the way around.”
    “He’s a coward.” Sera dropped to the edge of the bed with her bag next to her feet. “But he showed up this soon after my dad left…which means he’s been waiting. Watching.”
    “Which is why you’re here. It’s not enough to have Anna trail Josh. Just in case.”
    “And if he shows up?”
    Her expression as she awaited his answer was oddly blank. “Shows up here, you mean?”
    She nodded mutely.
    “It might get ugly,” he admitted. If she’d wanted her ex dead, Franklin would have already found a way to make it happen, so Julio had to assume she wanted his life spared. “I’ll do what I have to do, Sera.”
    “All right.” She rubbed at her arms as if she was cold, and her gaze fell from his to focus somewhere beneath his chin. “I’m supposed to meet Jackson tomorrow. He’s helping me get a permit so I can carry the gun Anna found for me.”
    “Got to clock range hours?”
    “I guess?” Her lips twitched. “Honestly, I’m more comfortable with a shotgun, but I’m not sure carrying one of those everywhere I go is entirely practical.”
    He gave her a smile. “No, probably not. Jackson’ll get you fixed up, though you don’t have to carry if you don’t want. I have a permit.”
    “You gonna follow me everywhere I go?” It sounded like a tease, a joke, one meant to cover up the desperate thread of yearning.
    He didn’t know if his words would engender relief or wariness. “For now? Yeah.”
    “At least you’re cuddlier than a shotgun.”
    Despite her words, she looked deflated, like she had back in the office when Anna had stormed in, cussing and fussing about how she’d make Josh pay. “Hey, it’s temporary. Then you can get back to all your normal stuff.”
    “This is my normal stuff.” She smoothed her fingers over the blanket beside her. “I’m genetically programmed to be a damsel in distress.”
    “That’s bullshit. You can be whatever you want to be.”
    “Maybe.” It came out too fast, and her laugh was forced. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to be upbeat. This night is…too much.”
    Too much, and pulling her in too many different directions. “Sleep, then. We can talk more in the morning.”
    “Can I…?” She swallowed. Peeked up at him. “Are you going to laugh if I ask for a hug?”
    The question damn near broke his heart.
    He sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped