Shot in the Dark by Jennifer Conner Read Free Book Online Page A

as a couple seemed odd, but there was a strange appeal to it. It had been a long time since Luci sensed that kind of magnetism with a man. Guys hit on her every night at the stand, but it was never a mutual attraction. She liked Devan, and looked forward to seeing him night after night.
    The male customers were there for breasts and caffeine. Why would Devan be any different? But he genuinely seemed to like her company and carried on an intelligent nightly conversation that consisted of more than, hey baby, you want some of what I got to offer ? The answer, of course was a hell no , but she could never say it out loud.
    Besides being handsome and brooding, Devan appeared to be a bad boy. Luci avoided bad boys like the plague. She didn’t need a verbally or possibly physically abusive man like her stepfather.
    But that was just it. Devan frowned most of the time, but that didn’t make him a ‘bad’ guy. He was a smartass like her. He was sharp-witted and had a troubled side which drew her to him like moths to a flame. He’d proved by staying with her that he was a nice guy… whether he’d admit it or not.
    How had he been injured? All those months of seeing him through the window of his car at the espresso bar, she hadn’t realized he walked with a cane. She guessed that was the last thing he wanted people to know.
    There was a story behind his injury. What happened to him not only crippled his body, it poisoned his mind. The more times he avoided her questions, the more things she wanted to know.
    She was just that kind of a girl.
    The body’s just bone and muscle, veins and organs. She knew better than most that sometimes you needed to look out of the box of Western medicine. Dev’s lines were drawn in bold black and white. He was as straight an arrow as they came. She doubted he’d sought out any recovery methods for his injury other than what the doctors at the clinics told him.
    There was a reason she was in her third year at the University of Chinese Culture and Health Studies. Maybe she could help with his pain.
    Devan came around the corner of the kitchen and leaned against the arched doorway. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll take you to your car and then follow you to the station.”
    “Did the tea I brewed last night help any with your leg?” Luci asked, putting a dish in the bottom of the sink and spraying water over it.
    “I’m not saying it didn’t, but it’s hard to tell. It wasn’t the easiest night.”
    “First you sat for hours on a hard chair in the ER and then ended up with my big Swedish head in your lap when we got back here. Why didn’t you move? Toss me off on the floor, or go in and use the bed while I was hunkered down on the couch?”
    “I don’t know.” His broad shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
    Luci grinned, touched by the sentiment. “You know it’s all right to think about yourself once in a while.” Opening the refrigerator, she pulled some cream cheese from the shelf. She split a raisin and cinnamon bagel and spread half of it with the cream cheese. “You need to start taking better care of your body.”
    “Why? It doesn’t do me much good.”
    “Because it’s the only one you have. And I want to see your body healthy again.” When she turned, he took a step toward her.
    Devan braced his hands on both sides of her, caging her in. He was so close she could feel the push of his breath. Light streamed in from the kitchen window, illuminating half of his face; the other half remained in shadow.
    Just like his personality. Half-light, half dark… well, maybe a little more on the dark side.
    He trailed a finger out to trace her cheek. “Why do you care?” his voice softened. Devan watched her pulse beating wildly in the shallow hollow of her throat.
    Why did the nearness of this man affect her so greatly?
    “Why shouldn’t I? You’re a good man,” she said, her mouth suddenly feeling dry.
    “I’m not.” This time the words