Shameless (St. Martin Family Saga) by Gina Watson Read Free Book Online

gold.
    Once they climaxed, Brook placed her arms around his neck and kissed him chastely on the mouth. She presented him with a satisfied smile and relaxed her weight against him. He sensed something behind her and tilted his head. He whispered, “Your greyhound is sitting directly behind you.”
    With her forehead resting on Cory’s she whispered, “He can get kind of protective of me.”
    “He’s glaring.”
    Her smile grew. Had he ever seen a more alluring smile? She turned in his lap to look at Eagle. “It’s okay, Eagle, Cory’s a nice man. He makes wonderful love to me.”
    Shit! Why did she have to go and ruin it with the L-word? They weren’t making love. He’d thought he’d made that clear.
    Damn. Damn. Damn. He threw his head back.
    So now would be a good time to talk about contraceptives; that would put a damper on their “love.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, uh, we haven’t been using protection, and I always use protection. I don’t know why I haven’t been with you, but it’s an issue for several reasons.”
    “It’s okay, I’m on the pill.”
    She sat across his lap and trailed her fingers down his chest. He wished she’d stop that as it was distracting him. So she was on the pill. That seemed peculiar if she wasn’t having sex regularly.
    A loud crash rang through the room, disturbing their post-coital ease. Brook jumped up on a scream and grabbed an old warn afghan to cover her nakedness. The door had blown open. Cory reached for a pillow and held it over his penis as he walked across the room. He peeked out onto the porch, but no one was around. He pulled the door closed, opened it, and closed it again. The problem was that the latch wasn’t lined up with the strike plate. He shifted a short bookcase into place against the door, to keep it shut, until he could dress and assess it further.
    Brook had dressed and was staring at him with large eyes. “Since the last hurricane, things haven’t worked quite right.”
    Cory nodded as he pulled on his pants, guessing she’d had trouble for a lot longer than a season. “Are you aware that Logan is looking for additional help during the week?”
    Her forehead furrowed. “He mentioned something about that.”
    “Aren’t you interested in extra work?”
    She smiled innocently. “No, I’m good.”
    “You’re good?”
    Her smile faded. “Why don’t you just tell me what you’re getting at?”
    He scratched the back of his head as he weighed the pros and cons of involving himself. Fuck it. “Your house needs major repairs, yet you spend most of your work week training dogs for free. It’s a bit unambitious. You should work for Logan.” Her mouth twisted to one side, and her brows slanted inward. He imagined it was her angry face, but he didn’t feel too threatened.
    “I don’t remember asking you for financial advice. And I certainly don’t need a life coach.”
    He really loathed having a serious conversation with a woman. They never reacted in a way that was reasonable. “What’s with the attitude? I’m trying to help you here. I wasn’t aware you knew of the available work.” Cory crossed his arms. “Why don’t you want to work the additional hours?”
    “Usually I have three to four greyhounds at a time. I can’t leave them alone for that long.”
    Cory nodded. He understood that. “How do you plan on tending to the repairs?” He looked around, his eyes landing on a large crack in the living room wall.
    She chewed her bottom lip. “Look, more money would be nice, but it’s not necessary. I manage. I’ve been in positions where I’ve had more, but I wasn’t happy.” Her eyes turned down, and her features looked haunted. “This life makes the most sense. I’ve never been more content.” Her gaze followed his to the door, and she pressed her hands to her hips. “The door will hold for now.”
    “Do you even want to know what can be living in that crack in the wall? And the danger there,” he pointed to