Time of Zombies (Book 2): The Zombie Hunter's Wife by Jill James Read Free Book Online

palm to her arm. It
was like an oven to sit near the man, even with the chill in the wind.
    “A kid in a wheelchair. No, a zombie in a
wheelchair was hitting a door. We got rid of him and then we heard crying. Like
a baby.”
    The air whooshed out of her. Bile rose in her
throat. This was why she stayed behind the walls. Inside her motor home.
Wrapped in her bed with blankets. The new world was too harsh, too demanding, and
too sick. Too much. How much until they broke?
    “A baby girl. An itty-bitty thing. Something bit
her. I couldn’t let her turn. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I killed her.”
    The words fell in a tumble and Teddy hung his head
down. Her heart cracked with a snap in her chest. Tears blurred her vision as
she released his hands and he pulled back as if she’d condemned him. Reaching,
she cupped his face in her palms. He raised his head and all she read there was
a soul-wrenching ache, a need for forgiveness. Lines bracketed his tightened
lips and his brow furrowed with doubt. A gray tinge hid just beneath the
darkness of his skin.
    “You listen to me, Teddy. That little girl was in
pain. It would have only gotten worse. You saved her from that. I’m sure you
made it quick and painless as possible. You are a good man, Teddy. Do you hear
me? A good man.”
    His eyes widened at the same time she realized
she’d finally called him by his first name for the first time. She laughed and
leaned closer as her lips brushed his. The man was as still as a statue, until
his lips warmed under hers. Her breath caught as he kissed her back. Her
heartbeat raced as the moment deepened from a gentle brushing of lips, a
benediction, to a warm gliding attack on her senses, and deep in her heart. Her
mind said stop and her passions said shut up.
    Her fingers slid along his smooth cheeks and
reached for the back of his neck to hold him there. The flesh there was hot and
smooth as glass. The kiss tasted of his sweat and her tears.
    Teddy moved back and her vision took a second to
straighten. A real, relaxed smile graced his face, one she hadn’t seen in a while,
since he’d first arrived at the RV yard. She smiled back; he had that kind of air
of happiness that made you want to join in. His eyes twinkled and heat pooled
in her chest and between her thighs. They held a promise that echoed the fire
of his kiss.
    “Michelle. I may call you Michelle, right? You did
call me Teddy.” He laughed and she joined in. “Not that that wasn’t the nicest
kiss I’ve had, but I do have to ask why.”
    “Why?” Her voice dropped down to a tone she didn’t
like, the one her friends called the Ice Witch, but she couldn’t help it. “I
can’t just kiss you because I want to?”
    “Sure you could. But you haven’t even seemed to
know I existed before today. So, I have to ask myself, ‘why today’?”
    She stood up and folded her arms across her chest.
“If you think I didn’t notice you, you’re crazy. Hell, I’ve seen you in your
boxer briefs. You’re a little hard to miss with all that.”
    As she waved her arms around, indicating his body,
Teddy stood up and hugged her in his embrace. His laugh rumbled his chest
beneath her cheek.
    “You’re hard to miss, too, Michelle, ma belle.”
    She giggled. What was with that? She never
giggled. That was for the cheerleaders and hair-tossing flirters of the world.
    “My dad would sing that song to me.”
    “I may be older than you, but I am not old enough
to be your father. Okay, in my ‘hood I might be.”
    She smacked his arm. “Teddy Ridgewood, you are not
old enough to be my father. My dad would have been sixty-six this year if the
flu hadn’t killed him. He was probably old enough to be your father.”
    His hand reached out and cupped her cheek. He leaned
down and his lips found hers. If the other kiss had been hot, this one was
scorching. Her face heated up and she grew lightheaded. Her hands grabbed his rock-solid
forearms and held on. Her stomach flipped like it