Free Sabotaged by Dani Pettrey Page A

swallowed, knowing she should pull back but, for the first time in two years, not wanting to lose physical contact. His hand was soothing, his skin soft.
    â€œKirra?” He dipped his head to look her in the eye. His fingers softly tangled with hers.
    â€œSorry.” She shook her head. “Got distracted.”
    â€œNot in a good way.”
    She frowned. “What?” He was the one who’d reached for her hand.
    â€œYour face scrunched all up. Whatever you were thinking about, it wasn’t pleasant.”
    Could Reef really read her that well? Was she that transparent? Panic slid up her throat. She needed to change the subject, quickly. She eased her hand back, slipping it in her coat pocket as they stepped outside to the rental car lot. “So . . . how long did you and Meg date?”
    He cocked his head, clearly caught off guard by the question. “A couple months. She was in her first year at the community college and I was running snow-kiting lessons out on Twenty Mile River. Meg came for a class and . . .”
    â€œYou two started seeing each other.”
    â€œWe grabbed a bite afterward.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œAnd hung out some for a while.”
    Why did that sting so? “How come it didn’t last?” Probably because Reef rarely stuck anything out—though to be fair, neither did Meg.
    Kirra loved her cousin, but Meg certainly wasn’t flawless. Maybe that’s why she’d been the one to stick closest by Kirra after the rape—because she understood what it was like to be judged.
    â€œI guess I just felt it was time to move on. Looking back . . .” He raked a hand through his hair. “Meg was young and I was immature. It was a bad combo.”
    â€œDo you two still stay in touch?” Why was jealousy rising in her throat, spreading heat across her chest? So Reef haddated her cousin. So Meg knew the soft feel of Reef’s lips. So what?
    It wasn’t like anything would ever happen between Reef and her . He was too dangerous, lived too fully.
    â€œI’ll get the occasional text or FB message,” Reef answered, his brow arched, a smile tugging at his lips. Did he find her jealousy amusing? “Our exchanges are random and certainly not serious.”
    Relief filled her, and that frightened her. Why should she care about Reef’s relationship with Meg—or with any woman, for that matter? She needed to stop spending so much time with him. Her vision was getting clouded.
    So they’d shared an intimate conversation on the plane and a dreamy kiss in the cave—which he still hadn’t brought up, thank goodness. The cold, hard fact was he was completely opposite of what she needed, so there was zero point in letting herself get attached.
    A more frightening concern was why she was growing so attached in the first place? This was Reef McKenna . He dated women like Meg—free-spirited, fun, and risk takers. She, on the other hand, had taken one big risk in her life, and it had cost her a piece of her soul.
    She’d prayed and prayed and prayed for God to fill the void. She believed God could make her whole again, but for some reason He hadn’t yet. There was still a hollowness eating away inside her—one she attempted to hide, one she tried to fill by taking care of her dogs, but one that wouldn’t go away.
    She’d been holding on to hope for two years and still the emptiness remained. Maybe she’d better get used to the idea that she might never be whole again.
    She stared out the rental car window as they headed fora restaurant Reef had recommended. She hated taking time to stop for dinner, but she was starving. Besides, returning to campus at night would only heighten her anxiety. It was near the same time of year that—
    She cut off the thought before a panic attack set in. She couldn’t let Reef see her like that.
    They’d decided they would get a