Stirring Attraction by Sara Jane Stone Read Free Book Online Page A

nodded. “But all the evidence suggests that he was crazy. That this was a random attack. He didn’t even take my phone.” She lifted her gaze and looked through the front windshield. “I know it was personal.”
    â€œI believe you.” And hell, he meant it. The Lily he’d known in high school, the girl he’d fallen in love with, the woman who’d cared for her mother when her dad couldn’t handle his wife’s illness—­she was strong. She wouldn’t give in to fear without a reason.
    â€œI’ll talk to my dad,” he continued. “And until we find him, I don’t mind watching the stars from my car. Though I’m kicking myself for not driving my truck up here. Ryan was so damn determined to get me on that plane.”
    â€œYou’re really staying this time.” Her lips pressed to the rim of her cup.
    â€œUntil we find the guy.” And until you feel like you can fall asleep without checking every corner of your house.
    â€œThen you’re leaving again. To do what?”
    â€œI’ll figure something out,” he said. Or he’d spend the rest of his days with his feet resting on a damn box, drinking coffee and staring at his TV. Worthless. Useless. A failure. And sure as hell not worthy of the woman sitting beside him.
    â€œYou want to lick your wounds someplace else, away from your family.”
    He turned and looked into her blue eyes. “I’m not getting any better. The damage is done. And no, I don’t know where to go from here. Hell, if I drank something stronger than coffee, I’d probably lose myself in a drunken haze—­”
    â€œNo, you wouldn’t,” she said. “I’ve never met a man more determined to act, who refused to settle. Life is too short, remember? You said it all the time.”
    â€œLooks like ‘life’ had the last laugh,” he muttered. “Because it sure as shit broke me.”
    â€œNot all of you, I hope,” she said.
    â€œLily.” And yeah, his tone held a shitload of warning. If she glanced below the belt and teased him with her words . . .
    â€œYou can tell me. Because I get it. Life broke me too,” she said. “But I’m fighting back. I accepted Noah’s job offer because I knew I needed to get out of the house. I can’t hide forever. School starts again at the end of August. I need to be able to face a roomful of five-­year-­olds. Lead them. Teach them. And not rush off to the bathroom and hide because I can’t overcome the panic.”
    Dominic took a long sip of the now warm coffee. He’d fought with dozens of men who wore their bravery like body armor. And he’d been one of them until he’d been hit. Then he’d crumbled. If Ryan hadn’t shown up, he’d still be hiding from the world instead of helping a woman who made army rangers look like pansies.
    â€œPlanning to follow me everywhere?” she asked, breaking the silence.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œOK then. Today’s my day off. I’m going back inside to do a workout video. And then, I have a date later. So try not to peer in the windows.”
    I have a date later.
    No longer awestruck by her determination to get back to the kids who needed her, he turned those words over. Lily was too damn special to remain single. And she’d given him plenty of chances. But still . . .
    â€œTake the mug,” he said.
    â€œYou’re done?” she asked.
    â€œI don’t want to break it.”
    â€œIs your hand hurting?” Her brow furrowed as she accepted the mug.
    No, honey. That’s my fucking heart, which came close to stopping once in the middle of a terrorist camp . . . and now here.
    He wanted to take her concern and bottle it up. But that desire pretty much summed up why he hadn’t come home to her.
    â€œSomething like that.” He needed to get a grip on his emotions.