Las Vegas Layover by Eva Siedler Read Free Book Online Page A

clear. He wouldn’t push her, and he wouldn’t let her blame him. If she wanted this, she was going to have to own it and meet him halfway.
    “I’m spreading her ashes,” Clara blurted.
    He jerked back, and she cringed. She’d wanted to cool the situation long enough to catch a thought, not flash freeze it and ship it to the North Pole. But then, maybe if she told him everything he’d walk away and save her from doing something really stupid.
    “Betty had cancer for years. My mom took good care of her and the doctors were doing all they could, but we knew she was terminal. Then my parents and my little brothers died in a head-on collision with a semi almost two years ago, right when I was finishing up college.”
    Beside her, Sebastian drew in a sharp breath. She barely heard it, consumed by the grief she’d buried for so long.
    “After the accident, I moved back home to take care of Betty. She was the only family I had left, so I focused my entire life around her. Then, a few weeks ago, she left me too.” Clara choked on the sob building in her throat. “It’s not right to be so angry with them, but I am. I’m so damned mad at them all for leaving me alone that I can’t stand it.
    “Betty had this trip planned out for me for months, months. She was determined to shove me out of my comfort zone, make me start living for myself. But do you think she said a thing to me? No. I had to hear it from her lawyer. Which still burns a little, if you want to know the truth.”
    She’d almost forgotten she wasn’t alone when Sebastian shook his head and pulled her into his arms.
    She landed against his hard chest with a thud. Winding his arms around her, he tucked her head under his chin and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe. “Damn, sweetheart. You should have slapped me harder.”
    She stayed stiff, waiting for him to pull away again. Only he didn’t seem inclined to let her go. And his warmth was just so…intoxicating. She couldn’t afford to really let him comfort her. But that was the great thing about Sebastian in that moment. Some other monumentally moronic thing was bound to pass his lips sooner than later. Then she’d walk away for real and never see him again.
    Which made him safe.
    Clara stopped wasting time and relaxed against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Just for a minute.
    His heat kissed her cheek and made her throat feel itchy and swollen, like she’d eaten something she was mildly allergic to. This was the first time she’d reached out for comfort in far too long. She hadn’t drawn in on herself because seeking solace made her feel vulnerable and naked, or because there was no one left to reach for—though all of that was true. She kept the pain close because it was too much to ask someone to bear for her, even for a little while. But this man, this Patron Saint of Asses, drew in a deep breath that rustled her hair, as if nothing would make him happier than absorbing a piece of her hurt. She melted, letting him.
    When Sebastian finally spoke, his voice was a gruff whisper. “I should be a dad.”
    Clara tried to look up. He squeezed tighter, holding her head against his chest as if he couldn’t stand to let her see how much this hurt him.
    “I was nineteen when I met Pam. We grew up together in a little nowhere town in Missouri. When I got accepted to Lynn State, she came with me. It was only a ninety-minute drive but we were in love, right? So why not? We dated for about a year, and I was determined to marry her the moment I graduated. I thought everything was great until she went to visit family in St. Louis for a week. When she came back, she had some steroid freak lugging her empty suitcases.”
    Clara’s heart thumped against his. Bitterness oozed from his every word. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the rest, but she couldn’t bear to make him stop.
    “I was so fucking blind,” he snarled. “The only thing I saw was how pale her face was. When I asked