Lucky Break by Carly Phillips Read Free Book Online Page A

out and had forgotten to buy more on the way home from visiting Beth. So all she had now was cream for the cat. The black cat.
    Given her family history, she couldn’t afford to be superstitious, which was a good thing. Lauren wasn’t a cat person by nature and she didn’t knowthe first thing about having one, but this animal didn’t seem to care. He hung out by the front door despite Lauren’s attempts to shoo him away. From his hefty build, he wasn’t starving. The empty bowls on the porch had led Lauren to conclude that the neighborhood kids must have been feeding him prior to her arrival. The same kids who’d vandalized the windows and walls had a soft spot for a stray?
    Stranger things had happened, she thought. Like the cat finding its way inside the house, making himself at home and eating and drinking enough for three.
    Said cat now sat at her feet and meowed endlessly.
    She glanced at the furry feline. “Fine!” She set the bowl on the floor, realizing there was no cream left for her coffee, but at least now there was blessed silence. The cat happily lapped up the liquid.
    â€œLooks like I’m going to have to make another trip to town tomorrow,” she said to the cat she hadn’t yet named.
    He didn’t have a collar. Lauren could put up signs in town advertising a lost cat. And if no one claimed him? She wondered if she could include him with the house. Since there was no way she could take him to Paris, she’d just have to make sure she found him a good home before she left.
    He finished the remainder of the cream, lookingas satisfied as Lauren had felt after having sex with Jason earlier tonight.
    Flushing at the memory, her body still tingling, she rinsed the bowl and headed for the downstairs bedroom. Lauren sat down on the bed and the cat jumped beside her and snuggled onto her pillow.
    Right in the middle.
    She sighed and stretched out beside her furry friend, wishing the warm body beside her was Jason. A dangerous thought and another reason she knew she had to leave town fast. He’d hurt her once but that was before she’d had her dreams to follow. Maybe that was how he’d felt all those years ago. She had been a potential distraction from his Olympic dreams and her leaving had been for the best. If so, she understood him that much better now.
    At least she’d had tonight with him.
    Tomorrow she’d head to town and ask around about hiring a contractor to work on the house. The sooner she completed the repairs, the sooner she could close on the sale and be finished with this town.
    And with Jason Corwin.
    Â 
    â€œC ATS SHOULD COME with a manual,” Lauren muttered as she picked up items she needed for herself and her pet in the grocery store.
    First stop was the cat food aisle. No more cream for this kitty. On awakening, she’d discovered that the midnight snack had resulted in a mess she didn’t want to think about or face ever again.
    When she’d called a friend in New York who owned a cat, Liza had burst out laughing. “Didn’t you buy him a litter box?” she’d asked.
    No, she hadn’t. Because Lauren had thought the outdoor cat would do its thing in the great outdoors.
    She paid for the groceries and a litter box with cash, placed the bags in her car and headed for the hardware store.
    When she was younger, the creaking sounds in her grandmother’s old house had frightened her and she’d always slept with a flashlight by her bed. After the scare with the window last night, she’d gone looking for a flashlight only to find it didn’t work. New batteries hadn’t helped, so she needed to buy a new one.
    She rounded the aisle and headed for the register.
    There was one person in front of her and she waited for him to put his change away and step aside before she walked forward and placed her purchase on the counter.
    The middle-aged clerk stared at her “You’re Mary