Release by Beth Kery Read Free Book Online

Someone had broken his nose once in a childhood scrap. His mother hadn’t had a job at the time, or any insurance, so it’d never healed properly. The slight crook in it only added to his stark, masculine appeal.
    His mouth was perfection, the lips firm, their shape hinting at his stubborn, determined nature as much as his innate sensuality.
    When he smiled, he could make a female’s heart skip two beats.
    She snuggled farther into the soft blanket as if to hide her small grin from herself. He’d once said something similar about the way her smile affected him, but Sean was a born flirt. Never mind the somber, serious façade he usually showed people.
    Her gaze skimmed across a heather gray mock turtleneck that emphasized a powerful chest and wide shoulders. His reserved persona was what Sean typically presented to the public at large, but she’d witnessed his fierce, volatile nature on a few occasions. It’d both alarmed and strangely thrilled her when she’d caught that glimpse of his personality in the past.
    Now it frightened her.
    She recalled one occasion.
    They’d attended several Cubs games together the summer and fall before Max had died. One hot September day, a fan sitting behind them at Wrigley Field had become loud and disorderly as he argued with his female companion. Everyone in the vicinity grew uncomfortable as their argument escalated both in volume and vulgarity. At one point, Sean had turned around and politely asked if they could take their disagreement elsewhere, but had received a rude gesture and instructions to fuck off for his efforts.
    When the man threw his beer in his female companion’s face, some of it splashed onto Genevieve’s hair and soaked her shoulder. But that wasn’t enough for the irate fan. As his girlfriend cursed and threatened him, he’d lunged for her beer, obviously intent on serving it to her in the same manner that he had his own.
    Sean grabbed the bully’s wrist lightning quick, halting him. The man dropped the cup and quickly transferred his ire to Sean, snarling and cursing and whipping his fist free from Sean’s hold, prepared to strike. Sean stood and spun.
    The next thing Genevieve knew, the man was sprawled back in the seats, squalling, blood pouring from his nose and reddening his face and shirt with alarming speed.
    It’d been hard for her to stop Sean from going after the man to give him more. She’d grabbed his arm and felt his muscles straining, tight and hard. For a few seconds, her voice hadn’t seemed to penetrate his thick anger. Finally he’d blinked and glanced over at her.
    His gaze had been so cold; it’d been as if he’d never laid eyes on her in his life.
    She’d managed to get him to leave the crowded ball game. The guy he’d hit had been a drunk bully, but Genevieve was worried Sean might get arrested if they stayed.
    It’d all happened so fast, Genevieve later had trouble recalling the exact sequence of events. What she did perfectly recall was the cold, blazing fury in Sean’s face. She’d never seen him look that way. It was bizarre to consider this other side of his character—this shadow side—that she’d never before caught a hint of until that moment.
    The chill in the penthouse penetrated the snug blanket. Her stomach growled. How long had she slept, anyway?
    She blinked, breaking her intense study of Sean, and glanced out the windows. No wonder it’d seemed so dim in the living room. The storm had started. The thick, falling snow and low clouds acted like a curtain. For a few seconds, she watched the motion of the fat snowflakes. Their vertical trajectory and rapid fall indicated just how dense the flakes were with moisture.
    She felt like she was being slowly buried in the onslaught of snow . . . imprisoned here with Sean. The realization of how pleasant the fantasy made her feel caused her to spring up from the couch, jarring her out of her reveries.
    Even though Sean couldn’t have seen her abrupt movement, he