Obsession (Southern Comfort) by Lisa Clark O'Neill Read Free Book Online Page A

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    Unless she was just messing with him .  Which was entirely possible.
    Heat crept up the back of his neck as he considered that this might be her way of preserving their friendship.  Letting him down easy.  Making it a little joke.
    That was Kathleen’s style.
    God, he was a hopeless schmuck.  Had the kiss been that bad?  She’d seemed to be enjoying it. At least a little.  Of course, maybe she just hadn’t wanted to cause a scene.  Because she was embarrassed f or his pathetic ass.
    “Dude.  If you’re going to keep standing there mooning over that thing, could you at least put on some pants?  Yo u’re creeping me out.”
    Justin frowned at his brother.  “I was not mooning.”
    “Whatever.”  James turned his attention back to the TV.  “First you hang a flowered shower curtain in the bathroom and now you’re getting all gooey over bric-a-brac.  You need to go wo rk on your truck or something.”
    Justin thought about the 1943 Ford currently on blocks in his garage.  Spending a few hours tinkering with it might be just what he needed to occupy his mind.
    Then the caffeine kicked in, and he realized what James had j ust said.
    “Ah, shit.”
    “What?”
    Justin shook his head.  The flowered shower curtain.  Which had simply appeared in his bathroom one day a couple of months ago.  
    Sending cutesy little ornaments through the mail might not be Kathleen’s style, but it sure as hell was Mandy’s.
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
    KATHLEEN stamped her booted feet as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Cold air sliced scalpel sharp through the front of her sweater, and she struggled with one gloved hand to tug up the zipper on her leather jacket, scrolling through her text messages with the other.  Charleston was experiencing a stint of bitter weather that laughed in the face of the ocean breezes which usually kept the winters temperate.  Of course, sane residents of the city were holed up inside, under blankets, sipping hot toddies, instead of standing on the sidewalk outside the movie theater waiting for their errant lover to appear.
    Finding the text she was looking for, Kathleen double-checked the message and the time.  Yep, she was indeed supposed to meet Anthony here at seven o’clock.  The movie they were planning to see started at seven-ten.  It was now seven twenty-two. Given the amount of previews, they probably hadn’t missed anything. Yet.
    Kathleen glanced through the big plate glass windows into the warmth of the theater lobby.  A couple of people milled around, ordering popcorn, glancing at movie posters as they waited for shows to begin or finish.  Kathleen had already checked out every poster in the lobby, so she’d stepped outside to wait.  Mostly because the girl who’d sold her two tickets thirty minutes ago had smiled at her sympathetically.
    “This is ridiculous,” Kathleen murmured.  She’d just go watch the damn movie herself. It wasn’t like she was the kind of woman who had to have a companion.  Anthony could just tiptoe awkwardly through the darkened theater to find her when he got here.  If he got here.
    She reached for the door handle to head inside.  And felt a hand on her shoulder.
    “Nice of you to join me,” she said mildly, turning to face the apology she had no doubt she’d find in his dark eyes.  Only she wasn’t looking into dark eyes.  Rather, she was starin g at a cleanly shaven chin.  She raised her gaze several inches higher and found it locked with Justin’s. 
    “Oh,” she said, rather unoriginally. And despite the cold, felt heat creep up her neck.
    “Hey.”  Justin, seemingly noticing that his hand was still clasped onto her shoulder, stuffed it into the pocket of his long camelhair coat. His straight dark hair was mussed from the persistent wind, one thick lock falling perilously close to his eye.  He looked a little sheepish, a lot handsome, utterly familiar.  And yet somehow she still felt that she was seeing him