Rescue Me by Catherine Mann Read Free Book Online

dating.”
    â€œOr it saves me from more messy breakups.”
    â€œMore?”
    â€œI’m divorced,” she said. “I thought you knew.”
    â€œI’m sorry. I didn’t know. Wyatt and Lacey never mentioned it.” And he genuinely was sorry. He’d experienced firsthand how much broken relationships hurt like hell even when the end was inevitable and completely right. “Does he live around here?”
    â€œNo, he moved away with his new wife.” She picked at the edge of the blanket. “They live in Ohio and have a baby on the way.”
    â€œAre you okay about that?”
    â€œOf course,” she answered too quickly.
    This conversation was getting heavy, fast. He needed to lighten the mood again. “So, Dr. Freud, what has your psychiatric intuition discerned about me?”
    â€œThat you’re moody,” she said without hesitation.
    â€œA doorknob could figure that out.” He tugged a lock of her hair again. “Come on. Play along.”
    The strands were even silkier dry, like whispery threads against his skin. He let go and put his attention back on the road, headlights pointed toward the tire-worn ruts in the ice.
    â€œFine, AJ. You want more?” She counted off on her fingers. “You’re a loner, but I would guess you haven’t always been. Something happened to send you running here,” she continued with unerring accuracy. “Your family is large and tight-knit. That’s why, even in your need for space, you still gravitated toward your cousin. Am I right?”
    Too right. So much so he would almost think his cousin had been talking too much, except he trusted Wyatt. And Mary Hannah had such a wholesome honesty to her that he knew she wouldn’t cheat, even at a simple guessing game.
    His grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I was expecting more answers like you noticed I’m messy and eat a lot of carry-out food.”
    â€œRookie info I could find from a simple search.” She tucked her hand into the cup holder and pulled out an empty fast-food wrapper. “I bet I would find more like this under the seat. Or some empty soda cans rattling around with those tools in the back.”
    â€œIf we’re doing background searches, I would bet money you belonged to a sorority. Alpha Mega Hot.”
    She burst out laughing. “Has that line ever worked on a woman before?”
    â€œIt’s an original, just for you.” He winked, stunned she hadn’t gotten mad, that she had an ability to take a joke about herself. That made her even hotter. He scrubbed a hand along his stubbly jaw. “You’re just so . . . perfect. I can almost see you wearing pearls with that sweatshirt.”
    â€œWhy is that a bad thing? Pearls are the universal accessory.”
    â€œI’m right?” He glanced at her and saw . . . he was right. “You wear pearls with sweatshirts?”
    â€œA T-shirt, actually. Once. It was pink. It called for pearls. And they were fakes—good quality, though.” Her lips went prissy tight again in a way that had him thinking of ways to ease them, part them open.
    His body went hard at the thought, and he shifted in his seat. “Of course. The very best quality.”
    â€œDo you always deflect stress with smart-ass comments?”
    Good question. And he wasn’t anywhere near giving her the full answer about why his brain was as tangled as last year’s Christmas lights.
    Still, he owed her some kind of explanation. “What went down today—it was a crappy way to spend any day, much less Christmas Eve. I’m sorry if that’s made me irritable.”
    â€œApology accepted. I’m sorry you got roped into taxiing me around.”
    â€œNo worries.” He glanced at her. “And to be honest, it’s probably time we declare a truce. Let the past be the past.”
    Her eyes went wide. “As in forgotten? No