Loving an Ugly Beast by Danielle Monsch Read Free Book Online Page A

– play a part to bring it about.”
    She seemed so wise and knowing, her body filled with new life, a mother to all. “How will this play out?”
    “Who knows?” So much for the wise and knowing part. “Wildfires are necessary, but I wouldn’t want to be caught up in one, and dealing with the aftermath is a bitch.”
    Marie was part wisdom, part rambling observations, and was obviously trying to deal with the fallout of the rare fight she had with Nissa, made worse by the pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep.
    He decided to push a little, hoping this mixed-up mood might give some valuable insight. “What can I do to get Nissa to give me a chance?”
    Marie placed her chin in her hand, studying him. “You are a beautiful man.”
    “Shouldn’t that word be reserved for women?”
    “No. Not when it fits so perfectly.” Her fingers strummed her cheek as she studied his features. “Nissa doesn’t trust beauty.”
    Marie sounded so sure, so certain. This was a window into a part of Nissa he himself didn’t know, had never experienced. “What do you mean?”
    “Maybe I phrased that wrong.” Marie stared into space for a few more minutes. “I’d say it’s more she doesn’t trust what beauty can drive people to. Because it’s an unknown variable, she deals with it by keeping it far away from her.”
    “My understanding is Benton wasn’t beautiful.” There was something awkward, something wrong about talking about himself like this, as if he didn’t know every scar Benton possessed and every dream that ran through Benton’s mind at night, most of them the last three years surrounding a violet-eyed woman.
    “You know about Benton? Never underestimate the gossip mill.” Marie got up and walked to the bar, coming back with a glass of water. She grimaced at it and muttered before taking a long drink “Wish this was something stronger right now.”
    The glass set before her, Marie continued. “Benton is far from what would be known as a looker, but he could have his pick of any woman in the village to take to his bed.”
    “He could have?” That was news to him.
    “Oh, yeah,” Marie enthused. “He has the most perfect body I’ve ever seen on a man, and he’s all growly and possessive. That does something to a woman. Most of us get hot over the caveman side of guys. Not all the time, but when a guy has that edge it does something for us.”
    “And Nissa thought if Benton ever discovered he could have any woman he wanted…” He trailed off, despising the logical conclusion of that thought. That was her opinion of him? That he would be that casual with her feelings? Maybe he didn’t truly know her. She obviously didn’t know him. But if he didn’t have Nissa’s memory to hold onto during the cold days, where he faced every kind of horror, how would he keep going? If he didn’t have Nissa—
    “He’d tramp it up in a heartbeat?” Marie asked, finishing his thought. “No, she didn’t believe that at all. She told me once, that if Benton ever broke her trust, she’d never trust anyone again, because he was the best man she had ever known.”
    Relief surged through him. She did know him. She did. “Then why isn’t she with Benton?”
    Marie gave a tight smile. “I could say something about how you are a stranger and why would I tell you all my friend’s secrets, but heck with that. Truth is, I don’t know. Nissa is a wonderful woman who has thick, high emotional walls to protect her, and Benton, for whatever reason, never tried to ram through those walls. They are a love match that never connected. Fear, pride, complacency, on either or both sides – who the hell knows what’s kept them apart.”
    “Let me assure you, I’ve never been afraid of heights.”
    Marie studied him for several moments, and then a rather smug smile grew over her face. “You just might be all right.”
    He inclined his head. “Thank you.”
    “But I do have one final warning for you. Friendly, just putting