Perilous Curves Collection (BBW Romance) by Christa Wick Read Free Book Online Page B

put his hand on my arm. I yanked it to my side. When his hand dropped to my thigh, I froze.
    "I know you're pissed and you've got every right to be -- and for a damn sight more than today. But we are going to talk. Not now. I understand that. You need your space to work, to make the best decisions for Alex, and I fucked that up tonight."
    He squeezed my leg. His grip was light but it made me want to cry out. He had to stop touching me. I couldn't deal with the emotions it evoked -- or the needs. My body remembered his down to a molecular level. Every brush of flesh produced a memory, the slide of skin over skin, his arms around me, his sweet but firm mouth sampling mine, the soft whisper of his voice in my ear, telling me how much he loved me, how he couldn't wait until we were married.
    I shook my head, the motion so violent a drop of blood spun from my cheek.
    "You said you'd give me a week," he pressed. "Look at what you've accomplished in one day. You can't deny that kind of progress, Liv."
    I gave no response, my throat too tight to argue. He sighed and moved closer. His scent wrapped around me. I wanted to breathe in deeply, to turn, knowing that he was so close our lips would brush. Instead, I reached to my left and unlocked the passenger door.
    "Fine, I'm going," he whispered and I could feel his breath warm on my neck and jaw line. "But I'm not going to let you just shut down on me. You are going to talk to me about the case and, when the time is right..."
    I took a ragged breath in, the beginning of a sob.
    Dante abruptly pulled back. "Liv, love--"
    No. Absolutely not. He could not call me that!
    "Go, now, or I don't know if I can hold up my end of the contract." I glared at him, felt the slide of a tear down my cheek and the sharp sting of saline hitting the cut.
    "The contract…Right, this is all about the contract." His door clicked open and Dante put one booted foot on the ground. "Goodnight, Olivia."
    Silent, I wrapped both hands around the wheel, gripping it until my knuckles went white waiting for him to get the rest of the way out. As soon as the door shut, I pressed the lock button. I hit the accelerator too hard. The car jerked forward then crawled toward the end of the drive.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Dressed for the bail hearing that morning, I shuffled into momma's kitchen and poured a cup of dark roast coffee, taking it black with no sugar. Momma was already up, dressed in a fresh dressing gown, a hint of rouge on her pale cheeks and her hair pulled back in a tight bun. On the table around her were the remains of that morning's edition of the Masonville Times.
    I bent down as I approached the table and gave my seventy-two-year-old mother a light kiss on the cheek. As she looked up, I caught myself holding my breath. I didn't want her to notice the faint bruise on my cheek hiding beneath a light layer of makeup.
    Momma just smiled and I breathed out with relief.
    "Morning, momma." I sorted through those sections of the paper she wasn't holding onto and then pushed it away. I was in no mood for economic reports or crime statistics -- not this morning. I wanted something light. "You have the community section?"
    She looked at the paper in her hands, doubtful for a second, and then nodded. "The Times have just gone to h-e-double-l." Her voice dropped to a whisper at the end, as if the devil himself might be listening for an invitation into the Miller household.
    I suppressed a laugh, both at momma's refusal to say so much as hell and the way she said "The Times " like it was the almighty New York Times or something.
    "They used to run your father's sermons on Mondays, you remember?"
    "That they did." I took a sip of coffee, hoping this was one of the mornings momma remembered that the good reverend had passed away ten years ago. It was heartbreaking on the days she didn't and had to be reminded. All the grief was fresh, as if she'd just found out he was dead for the very first time. In a way, that was