Pitch Imperfect by Elise Alden Read Free Book Online

Her skin was as soft and supple as he’d remembered, her scent intoxicating and her pussy...it drove him wilder than any woman’s he’d ever slept with. More importantly, he’d felt as if he’d found what had been missing in his life. He’d forgiven her everything.
    Then she’d yelled another man’s name, disparaged his performance and kicked him out. He was a bloody idiot. Anjuli had used him, treated him as if he were nothing more than the means to an end so why was he still thinking about her, remembering that night? Women like her only understood money and sex. Anjuli had plenty of money if she could buy Castle Manor outright, but her response to him in London was that of a woman who hadn’t made love—
no
,
screwed
—in a long time.
    I
never want to see you again
, she’d said, yet here she was, needing his help so badly she’d seek him out in public. Wanting sex, also, judging by her loaded glances while he talked with Sarah. A quick, meaningless screw to ease her need. Hard and fast. His mouth tightened. If Anjuli could treat sex with him so nonchalantly then he could do the same. Show her how it felt to be used, then leave her wanting, aching...
    Ash banged a few glasses she was putting away and looked out of the window, brows furrowed. “Anjuli wanted to stay and talk to you, but with the storm hitting us early she had to rush home. It’ll take her forever to get there on her bike in this weather.”
    “Bike?”
    Ash tsked. “The madness of townies.”
    * * *
    The wind whipped Anjuli’s hair into her face, and each new gust made her bicycle wobble, regardless of how tightly she aimed it forward. When Ash had mentioned the coming storm she’d remembered her wide open windows and the little box with Chloe’s things that she’d fallen asleep curled around in the morning room. But where had she put it before leaving the house?
Oh God
,
please let it be safely away from the windows!
Everything she had left of Chloe was inside it, and if she lost it because of her useless trip to the village she would have one more thing she couldn’t forgive herself.
    Anjuli relived the scene in the pub, gripping the handlebars and cursing herself. Why hadn’t she gone to Rob’s office to talk to him the way a normal person would?
    Because you’re a coward Anjuli Carver
,
as yellow as butter and twice as thick.
    Insulting Rob was bad enough, but how could she have been so rude to Councillor Hamish? Of course he would ask her to sing. He’d always asked her to sing. She never used to turn down performing at village festivals and Common Riding Balls. But she would never sing again.
    Dr. Coren could prattle on about “time healing her sorrow and freeing her voice.” She knew why she couldn’t sing, and it wasn’t only grief. It was guilt.
    She’d thrown away all of her own CDs and collaborations with other artists, avoided radio stations that might play her recordings, and binned all of her awards. The only reminder of her musical career she had kept was her Steinway. Its black and ivory keys provided tepid release but didn’t assuage her guilt. Nothing ever would.
    The sky was almost as black as her thoughts, making the landscape on either side of the road appear vivid green. A long streak of silver-white lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a burst of thunder and a sudden heavy downpour. Anjuli gritted her teeth and forced herself forward. She wasn’t alone in her battle against the elements. A bedraggled Border collie had followed her out of town and he weaved in and out of sight, sometimes ahead, sometimes on the moor slightly behind her.
    A large vehicle came towards her around the bend, its headlights on full beam. The driver was going too fast and he skidded in her direction. A loud bark, and before Anjuli could react, something nudged her back wheel and she hurtled onto the verge, hitting her hip when she fell. The farm truck sprayed water and dirt into the air, missing her by no more than a