Kiss of a Stranger (Lost Coast Harbor #1) by Lily Danes, Eve Kincaid Read Free Book Online

always do the right thing?” It came out like a challenge.
    To his chagrin, Maddie sat up straight, erasing the progress she’d made toward him. “It’s better than the alternative, right?” she asked.
    “Is a little bit of wrong really that bad?”
    She stood so abruptly he felt the air shift by his foot.
    “If you get cold, there are more blankets in the laundry room.”
    Whatever he’d said, she couldn’t run away from him fast enough.
    Gabe couldn’t let her go, not like this. He levered himself up and clasped her wrist just before she slipped out of reach. The hold was light, but she stilled the moment he touched her.
    He stroked one thumb against the underside of her wrist. He’d meant it to be a single touch, but as soon as his skin touched hers he didn’t want to release her. Gabe didn’t remember the last time he’d felt anything so soft. So delicate.
    Swallowing, he looked up. He knew this was the time to flash the big smile women had always loved, to let her see a hint of promise in his eyes, but those flirtatious impulses remained absent. When he looked into her sea-colored eyes, he could muster only sincerity.
    “Whatever the reason, thank you. This beats the hell out of a park bench.”
    She managed a single nod, then slipped her wrist free and walked upstairs as fast as she could without actually running.
    Gabe lay flat on the couch, leaving the table lamp on. After last night’s rough sleep, he should have dozed off right away. Instead, he tossed and turned for an hour, trying to find the right position, but there was none. At last, defeated, he lay on the floor. Even the coarse rug under his cheek felt too soft.
    He wasn’t ready for this. Not for warm rooms and comfortable beds, and definitely not for skin that felt like silk under his rough thumb. He needed hard, unforgiving floors. He needed to feel the bite of cold against his neck. These days, hard was all he knew.

Chapter Five
    G abe left before the sun even thought to make its first appearance of the day.
    Part of him wanted to wait till Maddie woke up. He’d made progress last night. He’d seen it in the way her breath caught when he touched her, the way her eyelids grew heavy. A smart man would press that advantage.
    Fuck, a smart man wouldn’t leave for any reason.
    But he’d already been inside too long. When he woke, the walls of her living room felt like a cage. He needed the sky above his head and the road beneath his feet, a road that went as far as he was willing to travel.
    There was no rush, Gabe reminded himself. Oliver wasn’t going anywhere. If he pushed too hard, Maddie would trust him even less than she already did.
    Gabe picked up his steps, needing to feel his muscles stretch and blood flow faster in his veins. He skirted around the town center, wanting to avoid other people.
    The outside world was a stranger to him. At least in the joint, everyone understood. They knew what it was to give up hope, to count off one identical day at a time. He wasn’t surrounded by metal bars anymore. Now he was surrounded by people who knew nothing of his world, and sometimes that hurt almost as much.
    It never even crossed their minds that it could happen to them. They worried about bills and spouses and whether the alternator would last another month, but they never worried that they’d end up in prison. Their whole lives, they’d only known freedom. The freedom to go where they wanted, to work how they wanted. To love how they wanted.
    The law said he could go anywhere now, but that wasn’t true. Until his name was cleared, this was the only place he could be. It said he could work any job that would hire him—but no place wanted a thug ex-con. He was still shocked he’d been hired at the docks—and he suspected he’d only been given that opportunity so Oliver Hastings could keep an eye on him.
    And Gabe sure as hell couldn’t love the way he wanted. Love had started all this. Love for his mother and Mateo, who’d