Love Bites by Lori Foster Read Free Book Online

Shuddering with revulsion, she said, “Not even close.”
    He tangled his fingers in her hair again to gently massage her scalp. “Then what does it matter what he thought?”
    She couldn’t believe him. “You really want to talk about this now? ” A wiggle against his erection made her meaning clear.
    “Yeah, I do. I’ve been thinking about getting you in bed so long that, once we hit the sheets, I don’t want you to be shy.” He held her tighter. “So sit still, stop tormenting me and tell me what the bozo said that was enough to derail all the interest I’ve shown.”
    “I didn’t know you were showing that kind of interest.”
    “My point, exactly.” He palmed her rear. “Now, give over, so we can get to the bed part of this disclosure.”
    Far as encouragement went, that was a doozy. “Okay, fine. He was…cruel.” She did not want to give details. “That’s all.”
    “That’s all?” He tipped her back. “Tell me.”
    Reliving that awful day wasn’t easy, but she supposed Evan deserved an explanation—albeit a shortened version. “We’d dated for a few months, mostly hanging out at my place or his.”
    He scowled. “Sort of like what you and I do?”
    “I’m low-key, I guess. I enjoying hanging out at home.”
    Disgruntled, he said, “Me too.” And then, “But I hope that’s where the resemblance ends.”
    “Believe me, it is.” She put her head on his shoulder so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
    “I thought things were going along great. Then one night I went out to dinner with a lot of people from the hospital. We ran into him all cozy and intimate in a bar with another woman.”
    Evan grunted. “Jerk.”
    “It was so embarrassing. He’d been drinking, so maybe that’s part of why he was so nasty about things. But he broke it off by telling his current date that I was just…” Her words trailed off.
    Evan kissed her, not so hard and definitely not as fast as before. She curled her fingers into his shirt and held on.
    When he lifted his mouth, he breathed deep. “What did he say?”
    “He said a lot, and I won’t repeat it word for word.” She would never voice the awful litany of insults. “But the gist of it was that a woman my size was desperate and made it easy on him…you know, to get laid. He said he assumed I knew he wouldn’t be interested in a cow like me, not for anything…public.” She tucked herself in closer to Evan. “Because he didn’t want to be seen with me.”
    Evan’s arms tightened around her. “You know I wouldn’t mind demolishing him a little for you.”
    She shook her head. Evan was not a bully, and he didn’t pick fights with idiots. She knew he’d said it only as a way to soothe the memory of the insult. “Everyone stared at me. And sure, some of them protested that, saying he was an abusive drunk. But they also…felt sorry for me.”
    “Because he’d deliberately embarrassed you, not because anything he said was true.”
    In her heart, she knew that. Her associates at work were good people who genuinely liked her. But the humiliation had struck deep.
    Standing, Evan took her hands and pulled her from the couch. “Come on.”
    “Where?”
    “To my bedroom.” He looked her over. “To my bed.”
    “Oh.” ’Bout damn time. She’d rather do that than rehash old hurts any day. “Okay.”
    As she stepped over Doug, he lifted his head, as always aware of her and what she did.
    “Just a second.” She knelt down to the dog. “Stay, okay?” She scratched his neck, rubbed an ear. “I promise I won’t be far away. You can rest now.”
    He looked at Evan, his furry expression somehow worried, then reassured. He let out a doggy sigh and went back to sleep. Cinder stroked his neck, gave Cate a pet and stood again. The animals trusted Evan, with everything.
    With her.
    How could she not do the same?

Chapter Four
    In the bedroom, Evan closed the door so they wouldn’t get a surprise visit from one of the animals. He said to