The Truth About Fairy Tales by Annie Walker Read Free Book Online

unrelenting. “It’s okay. You can take them—they won’t hurt you.” Once I’d swallowed his pills never bothering to ask him what they were, he got back into bed beside me and lay facing me.
                  Too close for comfort for someone fighting back tears.
                  “I could make you sick…” I whispered as he eased me closer.
                  Jackson smiled at my little girl voice. “Oh, I think I can handle anything you can give me, little bit.”
                  At the tender sound of those words, I did it—I lost it. I started to cry. Just before my tears took my vision away completely I could almost swear I saw a human emotion in those otherwise cold blue eyes.
                  Tenderness? Impossible.
                  Jackson gathered me in his arms and held me while I cried my foolish tears.
    “Not so tough after all are you, little bit?” he whispered against my ear and for the life of me, I think he meant that as a compliment.
     
    Chapter Four
     
                  I woke somewhere just before dawn and remembered where I was. All my mistakes came back to remind me that it was my own impulsive behavior that had brought me here. I was still in Jackson’s bed trying to remember just how many times we’d repeated those mistakes last night.
                  Slowly I untangled myself from his arms, hoping that he wouldn’t wake up and force me to face those mistakes again. I got lucky.
                  Jackson mumbled something incoherent in his sleep and turned over on his back. I got out of bed, searched around the floor where I knew I would find my clothes scattered around the room.             
    I was dressed and almost to the bedroom door when he woke up.
                  “Where are you going?” he asked me in a sleepy seductive voice that had me mesmerized amazed he’d even remembered my name. But then again, maybe that was because I was destined to be Miss Saturday night in his book from here on out. That thought as well as all of Ben’s pain brought the return of my anger.
                  “I’m going home. Go back to sleep.” I needed to escape to lick my wounds. Wanted to go back to my apartment and to my little old man dog, but I wasn’t at all sure I wouldn’t keep right on running all the way back to Santa Anna. I was more ashamed of myself at this moment than I’d ever been of my mother.
                  “Maggie, come back to bed, it’s still early. I’ll take you home later.”
                  I felt just sick enough to waver for a second. My fever had returned in full force making the room around me swim. I knew that if I didn’t get out of his bedroom soon I would be right back there with him repeating those same mistakes that had gotten me into so much trouble already. I didn’t even bother to answer. I just walked out the door and ignored the sound of my name coming from his lips asking me not to leave.
                  When I got back to the apartment, as much as I wanted to just crawl under the covers and sleep for hours, I couldn’t. Poor old Sidney who I’d left all alone the night before needed his walk.
                  Once we were back inside, I gave my poor pooch some food and got undressed. I felt miserable and I wasn’t so sure it wasn’t mostly due to the night I’d just spent in the devil’s camp. I was too exhausted to even dress for bed. I stepped out of my clothes and climbed under covers just as my phone began to ring.
                  I thought about all the possibilities of who might be on the other end of that phone, but I was mostly afraid that it would be my dear sweet grandmother calling to remind me to attend church today. I couldn’t face her now. She’d know. The second she heard my voice, she would be able to tell I’d been up to no