The Proposition (The Plus One Chronicles) by Jennifer Lyon Read Free Book Online Page A

again. He’d been furious, his left eye twitching and his hand on her arm clammy. Kat had rarely seen that side of David, but even then it had made her uneasy. Later David apologized, telling her the man was a former friend asking for money. David said he didn’t want the guy anywhere near Kat, didn’t trust him. He’d always been protective like that, and yeah, he had tended to get angry when he thought she might be in danger.
    “Hey, Katie, you’re zoning out. You okay?” He lifted a hand toward her.
    Her heart rate spiked. The sight of his hand coming toward her hit a bone-deep, fear-driven instinct. Maybe it was irrational, but to her, it felt real. She retreated to her worktable and strove for calm. “I go by Kat now.” Grabbing a fresh glove, she pulled it on. “The door locks automatically, so go ahead and let yourself out.”
    “You’ll always be Katie to me.”
    His softer tone caught her with an unexpected twist of nostalgia. Of longing for the way she’d once felt. Special. For awhile Kat had felt like the woman her parents wanted her to be. Smart enough to get a genius like Dr. Burke to be interested in her.
    She shook her head, breaking the spell. She’d been lying to herself, to David and her family—she had tried to be what David wanted.
    But she wasn’t. Really never had been. The only difference was that once she had at least tried.
    “I’m not that girl anymore, David. Let it go.” She didn’t know how to make it any clearer.
    “I’ve tried. But I can’t stop caring. I think about you, wondering if you’re coping.” He leaned on the worktable across from her. “Are you still having nightmares? Any more flashbacks? Or panic attacks?”
    His tone was soft and caring, but his eyes behind his glasses were narrowed, focused like when he examined test tubes. Calculating adjustments and fixes. Don’t recoil. You’re safe.
    “What’s going on here? You suddenly show up after years, and ask about my flashbacks?” It didn’t make sense. She clenched her hands over the edge of the table. “Are you really worried about me? Or what I might remember?” Why couldn’t she just believe him? It would be so much easier if she did.
    “Damn it, Katie.” Defensiveness bulged in his Adam’s apple. “I told you, the police, your family, exactly what happened that night. You’re the only one who doesn’t believe me.”
    Flashes of images went off in her mind. There and gone, leaving her panting and terrified. Random words streaked across her brain:
    Consequences.
    Dr. Burke.
    God, stop !
    White noise roared over the memory. Her fingers tingled. Kat refused to do this, to have a panic attack right there in her bakery. Breathing in and out, she regained control. “It doesn’t matter what I believe anymore.”
    His weak eye, the one that bugged him when he worked too long, twitched. “Do you know how it makes me feel to be doubted by you? Isn’t it bad enough that I couldn’t protect you and we both got hurt? Do you have to make me feel worse?”
    Both got hurt? Don’t go there. She repeated the mantra until she tamed the fury in her trying to break loose. None of it mattered now anyway. No one believed her that something even more horrible than a violent mugging happened that night. Something David was covering up.
    But how could they believe her? Kat didn’t remember more than an occasional flash, a word, a confusing image. It made no sense, not really. Except she couldn’t trust David again. Ever.
    She just wanted him gone. Her kitchen was her safe zone. And she wanted David out of it. “I need you to leave.”
    Resignation settled over him. “You’re bound to have a reaction to the carjacking. I want you to know I’m here. I care about you, Katie.” Sadness filled his gaze, magnified by his glasses. “I loved you. I never wanted you hurt.”
    She closed her eyes, his words smacking of the truth. It’s what had made her breakup with him so hard. He wasn’t some kind of