Tempted by the Night by Colleen Gleason Read Free Book Online Page A

over her as his lips brushed her earlobe. Accidentally. Of course it was accidental. “I could hear everything. I’m sorry about all this.”
    Sorry. Yeah, right. “I wasn’t certain if the sound system was turned on. I’m fine.” Sort of. “But you have a lot of questions to answer.”
    â€œThat’s why I’m here. Right now, I mean,” he said.
    She closed her eyes. This was torture. Did he have to sit so close to her? Did he have to smell so good?
    Did he have to have loved her sister—and broken her heart?
    â€œWhy did you leave?”
    His sudden stillness told her he wasn’t expecting that question any more than she had been expecting to speak it…but there it was.
    â€œI’m assuming you’re talking about leaving River Vale, and not the—er—safe-room.”
    â€œWell, I—uh—” This was her chance to backpedal, to get the answers that were really important. But before she could redirect, he spoke.
    â€œI left because I realized I couldn’t marry Lainey.”
    His voice, so low and rough and sexy, sent another shiver of desire through her. She gritted her teeth, struggling to keep her voice low and her mind focused on anger and not the lust galloping through her. “You couldn’t have told her that before the wedding day? You had to tell her on it? You broke her heart, Luke. You broke her heart, and you broke—”
    You broke mine .
    I thought you were the good guy. A great guy. A guy worth wanting .
    Instead, she said, “Yeah, I got that. So did the whole town. You got cold feet.” She straightened, pulling herself slightly out of his grip. Immediately, she felt chilly at her shoulders and back and wished he would cuddle her close again—and mean it. “Ian and his pals are looking for you. I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why, even though I’ve put my butt on the line for you.”
    He leaned closer, but didn’t tighten his arms around her again. “Yes, they’re looking for me. It’s a little complicated—”
    â€œIt’s going to get a lot more complicated if they find your ass because I stand up and point to you.”
    He sighed, a gust of warmth over the top of her head. “Right. I owe you some answers, I know. But first…I didn’t get a chance to tell you I’m sorry about your dad. I heard he’d passed—I happened to run into Benny Targent during my travels a year ago, and he told me. He was a great guy, and I’m really sorry he’s gone.”
    â€œThanks,” she said, mollified by his honesty.
    â€œNow for some answers. I was hanging around Ian Marck for about a month, pretending to work with him while I was trying to find out what he’s up to. Marck didn’t really trust me, but he didn’t have reason not to. So when I got the information I needed—okay, so I’ll tell you: they’re looking for some people who escaped from the Strangers. I stole Marck’s picture of them right under Juniper’s nose—he’s a douche and a dumbass—so I had to get the hell out of there.”
    â€œHow did you get hurt if you got away?”
    â€œWell, I wanted to know more after I found the picture and realized what it was, so I circled around back to their camp after they realized I escaped, and climbed on the back of their truck while they were driving. I was trying to figure out where they were going. A rock flew up and hit my head while I was hanging on to the back. And that’s what caused—well, that’s when I showed up here. I was already on my way here anyway, because I had something to do.”
    Marisa shook her head. “All of a sudden, I have a lot more questions now than I did five minutes ago.”
    He laughed softly. “I told you it was complicated. Not something that could be explained in thirty seconds while we’re trying to hide from the