Vengeful Shadows by Bronwyn Green Read Free Book Online Page B

sooner. Then, he’d insist on babysitting her until the guy was caught.
    She didn’t want him with her out of some misguided sense of obligation. Besides, she could take care of herself. She’d been doing it for a long time, and she wasn’t about to assign those duties to someone else. Even if that someone else was the only guy she’d felt truly safe around in the last ten years.
    She took a breath and slowly blew it out as she scanned the crowd. There was still the chance her stalker would back off if he thought she was involved with someone. There was a better chance he would follow them. She might catch a glimpse and, at least, have a description to give to the police when she went to the station tomorrow.
    The gallery was in a decent part of town. She’d make sure she and Zander stayed on populated, well-lit streets. She returned to her quiet spot near the wall and waited, watching for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. As Zander walked toward her, she realized she crushed the ribbon she still held in her pocket.
    His eyes searched her face. “What’s the matter?”
    She laughed, hoping she sounded more convincing than she felt. “Nothing. Why?”
    He didn’t look as if he believed her. Big surprise. She’d always been a terrible liar.
    “You seem upset,” he said.
    So much for playing it cool. “Not at all.”
    His eyes softened. “I’m sorry if this is stressing you out. I wouldn’t have asked if I hadn’t been so desperate.”
    “I’m fine. Really.” Releasing her clenched fist, she drew her hand from her pocket and held it out to him. Better to distract him with the walk than to try to avoid more questions. “Let’s go.”
    Zander laced his fingers through hers, and she had the sensation of losing her hand in his much larger grasp. Instead of overwhelming, it felt comforting. Warm. Safe.
    She sighed. She needed to stop thinking that way. She was responsible for her own well-being.
    “Bored?” A smile colored his voice.
    “Hmm? Oh. No. Just thinking.”
    “Are you sharing?”
    She cast around for a likely topic. “I’m just worried that we won’t be able to pull this off.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She worried about that, too.
    The cool autumn air swirled leaves around their feet as they wandered toward the river. The gentle breeze gave her ample opportunity to push her hair from her eyes and discreetly peer behind them. No stalker so far.
    As they walked, she caught glimpses of their reflection in the windows of businesses closed for the night. For a moment, she saw herself and Zander as a stranger might. They looked as if they belonged together. She pushed aside a pang of longing.
    “It’ll be fine,” he said. “You just need to relax.”
    Easier said than done. “So how did we supposedly meet?” she asked.
    “Let’s stick as close to the truth as we can. Less chance of forgetting anything important.”
    “So we met when you moved in two years ago. And then what? They’re not going to believe we’ve been together that long.”
    “Why not?”
    Did he sound offended?
    “Well, let see,” she began. “You date more women than…than—”
    “You sound jealous,” he teased, as he slowed his step.
    “Hardly. I’m just saying that we should try to be realistic. You’ve dated a lot of women. You’re not the settling-down type.”
    “I could be.” Zander stopped moving and circled his thumb around the back of Tessa’s hand. “For the right woman.”
    She peered at him and frowned. He was really getting into this role-playing thing.
    He raised their joined hands to his mouth to drop a soft kiss on her knuckles. At the feel of his lips on her skin, her breath caught in her throat. Respiration became next to impossible when she imagined his mouth on more intimate areas of her body.
    “Knock it off.” She pulled her hand from his grasp. “First of all, you don’t have to fake it when we’re alone.”
    What was she doing? This might be exactly the sort of thing