The Virgin and the Vengeful Groom by Dixie Browning Read Free Book Online

a last resort it occasionally worked on bullies. Having come up through a tough school, she had seen her share of both, including her mother’s so-called boyfriends, one of whom had locked her in the basement and tried to starve her into letting him teach her “a new game.”
    â€œMy card,” he repeated, sounding as if he might actually be considering it.
    Way to go, girl! She lifted her shoulders in an elegant shrug, something else she’d practiced in front of a mirror. “Or you can jot down your address and I’ll mail them to you.”
    â€œOr we can look through them now and I’ll save you the bother of shipping them. My truck’s parked just down the street.”
    Behind her the phone rang again. She froze. “You going to get it?” he asked.
    â€œThe machine will pick up.” It was probably only Davonda, telling her she wouldn’t be able to make it tonight. The creep almost never called twice in the same evening.
    The answering machine cut in. They both listened as the familiar voice began to whisper his filthy insinuations. Lily bit her lip to keep from screaming. She grabbed her cocoa mug and would have hurled it at the phone, but Curtmoved swiftly past her and picked up the receiver. “You want to run that by me again, sir? I’m not sure our technician caught that last phrase.”
    Waiting until he heard the dial tone, he softly replaced the receiver. “How long has this been going on?”
    â€œA-about a week. Maybe eight days?” She was doing her best to hide the tremor in her voice, but her best wasn’t good enough. “The police are working on it, but evidently crank calls aren’t a high priority. They couldn’t even do anything about…about the stuff in my drawer. When I told them I would never in this world buy anything so disgusting for myself, they only looked at each other—you know, the way men can do. Besides, there was no evidence of a break-in.” She lifted a pair of stricken eyes. “Which means somebody—some horrible pervert—has a key to my home.”
    Something inside him shifted, coming dangerously close to sympathy. Being threatened by an unseen, unsuspected enemy was nothing new for someone in his line of work, but for a woman—a civilian—
    He had to remind himself that he had a legitimate beef with her. He would do well to leave her and her problems to the Norfolk PD and get out before she undermined his mission.
    â€œLily—Miss O’Malley—I happened to be out of the country when the rent on my storage locker came due.”
    As he’d hoped, the diversion pulled her back from the edge. “Tough. That’s your problem, not mine. Besides, I was told they gave you notice.”
    â€œUnfortunately, I was delayed. Still haven’t caught up on all my mail. It’s possible I might have missed a payment, but that doesn’t mean—”
    â€œTry three payments.”
    â€œThree? That many, huh. Well, the fact remains, thestuff’s morally mine. I can understand why you might think otherwise, but now that we understand each other, I don’t see why we can’t settle things now, and then I’ll just get out of your hair and leave you in peace.” He figured she was bluffing about the lawyer, but if he had to, he could deal with it. One way or another, he needed to settle this business and get out of town. Back to where he could breathe, where he could do his own thing—or not. Where he could damn well sleep in his own bed until he was ready to move on.
    Gnawing on her lower lip, she appeared to be considering his offer. Leave your lip alone, dammit. If it needs chewing, I’ll chew it for you!
    She smelled of wildflowers. Once on a training mission he’d crawled on his belly through a whole field of the things. He would never forget the scent. “Well?” he prompted when she seemed reluctant to