Justice Mine: a Base Branch Novel by Megan Mitcham Read Free Book Online

hand over his stubbled head before shoving both hands into his front pockets. The innocent gesture looked all wrong on the innately predatory, sexually scrumptious man. Yet, it added a layer of sweetness to his disposition and a hint of vulnerability. Magdalena’s heart dunked into her belly in appreciation.
    “Wow,” he whispered.
    “Wow, what?”
    Law’s thick lips spread wide over a set of straight bright teeth, and her belly plunged to her big toe.
    “Just surprised. You didn’t beat me to death with those little fists of yours.”
    Mags glanced down at her folded arms and white knuckles then loosened her balled hands. Law had seen her sleep. Knowing that wound her up, but she hadn’t realized how tightly until he pointed it out. She didn’t give two flippin’ cents about the phone, but the act of watching someone sleep came with a sense of intimacy. A person was never more exposed than when they slept. And she couldn’t bear any more nakedness where he was concerned.
    Literal or otherwise.
    In defense, she changed tracks. “My alarm went off for more than an hour. Why didn't you wake me?”
    “You needed the sleep.”
    Guy-speak for ‘you look like shit.’
    “Is my dad’s car here or did he take it to Ruth’s?”
    “Ruth’s,” he said with a shrug. “But I can drop you.”
    Yeah, flat on her head. That’s where he would drop her, and she didn’t have the emotional means to deal. The phone peeped and vibrated her hand, sending another shot of adrenaline through her veins. I’m awake already. Mags pressed the snooze and went bug-eyed at the time readout. “Two o’clock in the sodded afternoon?”
    “It’s certainly not one in the morning. We were just there, remember?”
    “Fuck it all,” she huffed. With a barring arm she shoved Law from the threshold out into the corridor. “I needed to be at Cardiff six hours ago. Thanks for the offer, but there’s no way in hell I’m slinging a leg over that thing in the drive. I’ll call a cab.”
    She slammed the door in his gorgeous face and ran for the loo, snatching her bag as she went.

7
    S o good . Magdalena closed her lips against a moan. It wouldn’t do to draw the cabbie’s attention, because she wasn’t sharing. She swallowed and warmth slid down her throat. Satisfaction pooled in her belly, but greed and the mouthwatering aroma called her back for more. After licking the crumbs from her mouth, Mags sank her teeth into the last portion of her toasted egg and sausage.
    Why did he have to be so hot and so nice…in that gruff, rude kind of way?
    The brown bag crackled as she returned the sandwich’s plastic wrapper to its depths and peeked inside. Two Glamorgan sausages snuggled in their wrapper. An apple, banana, and another napkin canoodled with them. When she’d come downstairs the classy remise had been waiting, door opened, with her big luggage loaded and this bag of goodies on the seat. She hadn’t touched it for a while, thinking the previous tenant had forgotten their lunch. The poor sod. But Ralph, the driver, said, “If you’re not going to eat that, you can pass it my way, and if you’re not head over heels for your man, I know my daughter could make use of a top bloke like that. The man she’s with now isn’t worth the air he breathes.”
    She hadn’t seen Law again before she left and it was for the best.
    “Most aren’t,” she agreed.
    The hackney jarred, riding over a nice dip in the old highway. Unable to eat another bite, Mags abandoned the bag for the view outside the window. Her sleep deprived face reflected in all its dark circled glory, but she looked beyond it at the passing greenery. Fields edged with leaf-bowed limbs carved the horizon as she bemoaned her unceremonious welcome home. Her stomach shimmied. A nervous energy had her flipping the sandal on her foot in irritating time with the flitting past of each tiny car and occasional delivery truck.
    Mags still had a few usable hours in the day and,