Lucky Charm by Carly Phillips Read Free Book Online Page B

no choice.
    â€œGabby…”
    She tipped her head to the side. “Please don’t tell me you still believe in curses.”
    â€œHow can I not believe in something that keeps proving itself over and over.” He reached out and stroked her hair. “How can I not want to protect you?”
    â€œDerek, let me make something very clear. I didn’t appreciate you making decisions for me when I was seventeen and I appreciate it even less now. Your kiss made it perfectly clear how you feel about me. Don’t expect me to just walk away from you again.”
    Before he could reply, she opened the door and hopped out. “Thanks for the ride,” she said, her voice cheerful.
    Clearly she hadn’t listened to a word he’d just said.
    His body was glad.
    His mind and heart told him she was better off without him.
    He ran a hand over his eyes, then slammed his hand against the steering wheel. When in the hell would what he wanted count? Or was the fact that his last name was Corwin stronger than anything else in this world?
    He put the SUV in Reverse and pulled out of the driveway, slowing to watch Gabrielle let herself into the car. She stopped to pull a flier from beneath the windshield, glanced at one side and then the other before she crumpled it in her hand and then opened the car door.
    The cute convertible suited her personality, he thought as she waved, indicating he could leave.
    He drove away, certain of one thing. No matter how difficult it would be, he had to keep his distance. He couldn’t let the curse in his life destroy hers.
    Â 
    G ABRIELLE TURNED ON THE ignition and hoped the air-conditioning kicked in fast. Her car, which had been sitting under the hot sun all afternoon, felt like an oven.
    Her heart was racing a mile a minute, but it wasn’t just due to Derek’s kiss, nor was it the heat. The note on her car made her uneasy.
    She pulled out the paper she’d crumpled so Derek wouldn’t think anything was wrong. But something was very wrong. The flier had been a threat. One side announced her talk at the library. The other had a handwritten warning scrawled in red crayon that read, “Go home or else.”
    Gabrielle exhaled long and hard. While she disliked being told what was best for her, threats and ultimatums really ticked her off.
    As if she didn’t have enough on her mind…After that kiss, did Derek really think she’d let him walk away? As long as she knew he still cared, she wasn’t going to allow his ridiculous beliefs to stop them from being together any more than she’d let some coward prevent her from speaking out tonight.
    When Gabrielle was told no, her determination merely grew stronger. She recrumpled the paper and tossed it across the car.
    Watch out, Derek Corwin. Gabrielle was back. And she was going to get what she wanted.

CHAPTER FOUR
    D EREK HAD NO INTENTION of going to the library tonight. God knows, he didn’t need to hear any more about a curse he was already intimately familiar with. Unfortunately, after dinner, which he and Holly had shared at his father and his uncle Thomas’s house, Hank was still determined to go.
    They were still sitting in the kitchen around the table. Derek rose to help his uncle clear the plates while his father began to rinse and place the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher. Holly had taken Fred for a walk, so when his father began discussing the library talk, Derek figured now was as good a time as any to get things out in the open. Derek didn’t want Holly exposed to the details about the family curses at her young age.
    â€œDo you really want Gabrielle going on about our family history in public? Dragging our dirty laundry through the mud?” Hank asked.
    â€œExcuse me for stating the obvious, but would it change anything? Everyone already knows we’re cursed,” Uncle Thomas said as he finished loading the dishwasher. “There’s no reason to go