Sunset Hearts by Macy Largo Read Free Book Online

can help you.” He pointed at her feet. “You can barely walk. I’ll get you cleaned up, and then we’ll call him.”
    “You can’t tell anyone you’ve found me.” She started crying again. “Please, he’ll report it and they’ll find me!”
    Alan had to follow his instincts. Whatever her deal, no doubt she felt terrified. “I’ve got an idea. I’ll take you home with me, but I can’t take you into the marina. You going to behave and not try to run away?”
    She tried to stand, crying out as she apparently realized he was right.
    He shook his head. “You can’t walk like this. Let me help you.”
    “Okay,” she said.
     
    * * * *
     
    Alan Walker was a cutie. A freaking angel on Earth. Saved her life, and he’s gay. Why not? If he wasn’t gay, he’d probably be happily married to a supermodel and have a house full of kids.
    Figures. My fucking dumb luck.
    She didn’t speak as they motored south. She shivered as she held the towels around her and tried to warm up. So she left out the part of her story about witnessing a murder, tweaked the events to make it sound like Paulie was really an abusive asshole.
    Minor freaking detail. If she told Alan about the murder, she was a dead woman. Not to mention this poor guy’s life would also be in danger. At least this way, if she disappeared for a while without mentioning the murder, Paulie might not think she saw anything. He’d probably assume she died. He wouldn’t be reporting her lost overboard, that’s for sure. She didn’t know how she’d get away from this guy, but no freaking way would she let anyone keep her from running.
    Once she could walk, of course.
    He turned the boat down a private canal and pulled alongside a dock. “If I take you into the marina, they’ll know something’s up. I know the guy who lives here. He’s at work right now. The marina is one canal down. I’ll go dock and come back and get you in my truck. It’ll take me about fifteen minutes. You wait right here and don’t move, okay?”
    She nodded, trying not to start crying again. He had the sweetest brown eyes. “Thank you, Alan. I really appreciate this.”
    He offered her a smile. “It’s okay.”
    By the time he returned for her, she’d tried to walk and didn’t make it more than a few steps before she had to sit down again. Her idea had been to disappear so she didn’t have to involve him any more than he already was, but not being able to walk put a kink in that admittedly ill-conceived plan.
    He picked her up and carried her around the front of the house to his truck and sat her in the passenger seat.
    “I thought I told you not to move,” he chastised when he climbed behind the wheel.
    “I wanted to see if I could walk.”
    “No, you wanted to take off and run away. Now do you understand what I was trying to tell you? How far do you think you’d get looking like that? Jesus, you look like an extra in a shipwreck movie.”
    She stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed, shaking his head as he shifted the truck into drive. “You’re too much, Daphne. You’re worse than my youngest sister.”
    He only lived a few minutes away. He pointed out the marina when they passed. “That’s where I keep my two boats.”
    She noticed the FMP truck parked in the lot. “Is that your boyfriend’s truck?”
    “Yeah.” She didn’t miss the slightly wistful tone in his voice.
    “You’ve got it bad for him, don’t you?”
    He reddened a little. “Is it that obvious?”
    “Guy in love. No mistaking the sound of that.”
    His house in south Aripeka wasn’t a mansion, but nicer than middle class. He picked her up and carried her inside, where he set her on the bathroom counter so he could check her feet.
    She caught a glance of herself in the mirror. “Holy crap, I am a mess. No wonder you wanted to call an ambulance.” Now that she’d warmed up a little, knew she wasn’t going to die, and had drank another two bottles of water, the worst of her injuries