Kiss Me That Way: A Cottonbloom Novel by Laura Trentham Read Free Book Online Page A

my expertise in order to get what you ultimately want.”
    “And what’s that?”
    Her blue eyes stared straight into his with a measure of truth no one but Tally and Sawyer was brave enough to dish out.
    “You want everything to be the way it was before your accident. You want your life back. You want to be out of Cottonbloom.”
    A day ago—hell, two hours ago—she would have been correct on all counts, but now right or wrong, logical or not, he wanted one thing even more: her.

 
    Chapter Four
    Between the summer heat and his muscular body pressed against her, Monroe felt like she was on the surface of the sun. His beard had tickled the side of her face, and she’d nuzzled into him before her mind could rein her body in. He smelled amazing, all spicy, yummy man. She probably stunk from a long day’s work and sweat.
    She pushed off him, adjusted her spandex top, and swiped the back of her hand over her forehead. Climbing behind the wheel, she cranked the engine, the AC still set for max after her quick trip from the office to the gym.
    Sawyer Fournette’s house was less than ten minutes away. He could have bought a bigger, nicer house on the Mississippi side of Cottonbloom. Instead, he’d opted to buy an older traditional farmhouse with a wraparound porch. It was secluded, sitting squarely in the middle of at least fifty acres. He kept the land around the house cleared but was letting the remainder revert to wilderness.
    Tightening her hands on the steering wheel, she kept her gaze fixed on the road but was uncommonly aware of the man only a few feet away. Cade remained silent, and she gave up trying to think of something not silly to say. She slowed once they hit the bumpy ruts on Sawyer’s unpaved driveway, but he seemed more pensive than in pain, his index finger tapping the top of the cane.
    “Tally said you have two black belts and teach self-defense.” His voice was low but carried over the AC noise.
    She treated his statement as a question. “I offer a class free of charge for high-school girls. Tally lets me use her gym at no cost. Most of them don’t have the money to join.”
    “That’s nice of you.”
    “I don’t want those girls to be afraid. Not just of strangers, but the boys—men—in their lives. Mississippi and Louisiana have some of the highest crime rates against women in the country. Mostly from boyfriends and husbands.”
    A few beats of silence passed, and she glanced over to find him staring at her. “Do you do it because of what happened that night?” he asked.
    She whipped her head back around to stare at Sawyer’s house in the near distance. Memories rushed back along with the doubts she carried like chains. Her heart expanded in her chest. Cade was the one person who might be able to dissect truth from imagination. Yet a decade was a long time. She was different, and so was he.
    “I’m surprised you remember.”
    “Why wouldn’t I remember?”
    She pulled to a stop. A red-and-gray truck was parked under a willow tree in the front, its limbs offering partial camouflage. Grass grew tall around its deflated tires. Rust pocked the tailgate, obscuring the DODGE lettering, and a bird had built a nest where the cab met the bed. The abandoned truck made for a melancholy picture.
    “I was young, and you were—seemed—so much older, wiser.”
    “I don’t know about wiser.”
    “You didn’t say good-bye.” She hadn’t meant for the words to come out at all, much less with such vehemence.
    “Excuse me?” The coldness in his voice rivaled the AC.
    She considered backtracking, laughing off the strange accusation, but as soon as she met his eyes her path was set. She’d learned at a young age how to keep her own counsel, how to protect herself. While she was friendly and polite to everyone, she didn’t trust anyone. It made true friendships hard and relationships impossible.
    But with Cade she’d never censored herself. It was the way it had always been with him. Old