Jailbird by Heather Huffman Read Free Book Online

meal trying to decipher the tone of his sure.
When we were back in the car, he asked if I wanted to go to his
place for a cup of dandelion coffee. He seemed to be as reluctant
to be alone as I was to leave his company.
    “It’s decaffeinated,” he informed me
imploringly.
    I’ve never done drugs, not once, but I was
beginning to think that being near him was like an addiction to
drugs. And I don’t mean nicotine… I mean the hard stuff. The junk
you know you shouldn’t do, but can’t seem to steer clear of. Every
rational thought in my head was screaming to go back to the
Angelita’s.
    “Oh, well then… how could I not?” The
completely irrational addict in me replied.
    Any butterflies in my stomach scattered when
he took my hand and led me up the walk. They were replaced by
molten lava. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. It didn’t
help. Now his scent had a firmer grip on my senses. Something about
the whole thing woke up a different kind of completely instinctual
animal; one I didn’t even realize I had lurking inside of me.
    The door clicked behind us and we leapt at
each other. He pulled me into his arms as I hungrily buried my
fingers in his soft golden hair.
    I had been kissed by a clumsy teenage boy
before. I’d been punished by the angry touch of a beast. I’d never
been branded by the kiss of a starving man. Not like this. It was
dizzying. The emotions were so overwhelming it made me want to cry.
I couldn’t get close enough to him and he couldn’t seem to get
enough of me. His hands were everywhere. We found our way to the
stairs but we didn’t make it up them.
    I didn’t feel the steps pressing into my back
as his mouth roamed my throat. But when his hands trailed up my
arms to cup my neck, the other completely instinctual animal in me
panicked. Warning bells sounded in my brain. Hands that had sought
him now clawed and shoved him from me.
    He pulled away, cursing up a storm until he
saw the look in my eyes. The stark terror coursing through my veins
must have shown, because his expression instantly softened.
    What scared me most at that moment was the
knowledge that if there’d been a tire iron within my grasp, I would
have hurt him. Really hurt him.
    “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” I scrambled to
my feet.
    “Neena,” he made a grab for my hand that I
eluded.
    “I have to go. I’m sorry,” I refused to look
him in the eye.
    “If I did something…,” he sounded so tortured
at that moment it stopped me in my tracks.
    “You are the gentlest… the most decent man
I’ve met in many years. It’s me. I had no business even toying with
the idea… let alone ending up on your steps. I’m so sorry,” I took
his hand in mine and kissed his knuckles. “I’m so, so sorry.”
    “Don’t go,” his grip tightened when I turned
to leave. “Stay for a while.”
    “No,” I shook my head and stared intently at
my feet. “I need to go. I’ll be back in the morning. If that’s
okay, I mean.”
    “I’ll make us some breakfast,” he promised,
pulling me to him for a gentle kiss.
    “That sounds nice,” I nodded, slipping out
the door before he could convince me to stay.
    His presence was wreaking havoc on my simple
plan: don’t go back to jail. I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to
make decisions about if I should ever try to have a real life
again. I’d kind of figured certain doors were closed to me the
instant metal met Todd Winslow’s skull. My reaction tonight
certainly proved that point for me.
    What kind of woman went into kill mode the
second a man put his hands on her throat, no matter how
tenderly?
    The same kind of woman who could abandon a
friend who’d kept her alive for a decade.
    The kind of woman who could keep her
existence hidden from her own daughter.
    The reality of who I was washed over me like
a frigid tidal wave. Some wrongs I couldn’t right. Some I could
certainly try. By the time I reached the Torres house, I knew I had
to do whatever I could to