Web of Lies by Candice Owen Read Free Book Online

even though the car had stopped.  Her head was back against the seat, her eyes closed.  When he knocked on the window, she jumped away as if a snake had bitten her.  Then, she saw who it was. 
     
    Jack reached down and tried to open the door, but it was stuck shut by the impact from one of the bikes.  He could see the panic beginning to rise in her eyes, so he motioned to show her he was going to try the other side.  That door opened, and he reached in and touched her hand on the wheel.  It’s just to steady her, he told himself. 
     
    “Come on, let me help you out,” he said, keeping his voice calm, though he wanted to yell.  She turned the ignition off and held the keys as though they were a lifeline.  He held out his hand, and she put them into it.  Then, she scrambled over the passenger seat and out of the car.  At last, she stood with him on the edge of the ditch.
     
    “Are you all right?”  Jack’s voice was still quiet.  Although he wanted to touch her everywhere to make sure she was not hurt, he waited until she answered him.  He had no right to want to strip her naked and check her for bruises.  He had no right to want to hold her and kiss her to make sure she was whole.  He had no right to...
     
    ...he lost it.  She turned to him and touched his chest, as if she were grounding herself, and he lowered his head to hers and captured her lips.  They were trembling, and he felt like a heel for hitting on her when she was vulnerable; but, he needed this moment of contact as much as she needed the comfort. He couldn’t stop himself from taking it. 
     
    Her lips were warm, and after a moment of hesitation, welcoming.  She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on as he sucked first the bottom, then the top lip into his mouth and savored her.  She kissed him back, when he let her, and he groaned.  This should not be happening.  We have things to do.  Like calling the police, he thought, begrudgingly.
     
    “Faith, honey, we have to call the cops.”  He dragged his mouth away from hers, hearing the endearment and ignoring it.  He shouldn’t think about anything now, except keeping her safe.  Pulling away from her, when she obviously wanted to stay right where she was, was the hardest thing he had done for the day so far.  Still, he made himself pull his cellphone out and dial 911.  While they waited, he knew that he would ask what she thought she was doing, leaving without him.  That thought brought his ire back. As he hung up, he pulled her away from the car and towards his truck, and he grabbed her arms.
     
    “What were you thinking, leaving without me?”  His voice was sharp, still coming down from the adrenalin rush of the accident and their kiss.  “You could have been killed!”
     
    “Don’t shout at me!” she snapped, trying to pull away from him.  However, he wasn’t letting her go.  Not without an answer.  She seemed to sense that, so she continued, “I...a couple of bikers threatened me in the parking garage when I was leaving work a couple of days ago.  I think they might have been from this same gang.”
     
    Jack felt his blood pressure rising, right alongside his fury, at the thought that she hadn’t told him.  He let her go, so she wouldn’t feel his muscles tighten with rage.  This can’t go on.  She has to understand that she is in danger, and it is my job to protect her.   He inhaled deeply, then he did it again, fighting for calm.  One more deep breath, and then he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me when it happened?”
     
    This time she turned her eyes away, and his gut clenched as she said, “They reminded me of you.” 
     
    The bald statement hung between them, and the realization hit him square in the chest.  She continued to avoid looking at him.
     
    “So you thought you would get away from me, in case I was up to no good, and go across the country by yourself.” 
     
    It was not a question, and her silence spoke