Free Before She Dies by Mary Burton

fancy attorney/aunt like you do something Grady asked?”
    “I did it for you.”
    She’d often wondered what she’d say to Sooner if she ever saw her again. She’d assumed she’d feel love or tenderness, not irritation. “How about you just thank me for keeping you out of jail?”
    “They wouldn’t have sent me to jail.”
    “You don’t think so?”
    “Grady said not to worry when he came to visit me in jail.”
    Charlotte snorted. “And we both know Grady never lies.”
    “He has to have something. Aunt or no, a fancy woman like you doesn’t mix with people like me.”
    I was a girl like you. “Just do us both a favor and keep your nose clean.”
    “You look upset.”
    “I’m not.” Heat rose in her body and tears burned the back of her throat. It was too much seeing Sooner ... seeing Mariah. There was so much to say and no adequate words.
    Overwhelmed, she hurried down the stairs, telling herself that it was okay to run. She’d done her good deed for the day. She and Sooner might have connected a very long time ago, but clearly Sooner was all grown up, no doubt wise beyond her years. She didn’t need Charlotte.
    And still when she reached the front door of the courthouse, she glanced back. Sooner’s head was turned and she was talking to a man. He was grinning and clearly his interests in her were not very pure. Sooner’s stance suggested that she understood exactly what kind of effect she had on him.
    Mariah had been like that. Even at sixteen Mariah could make any man, no matter how straightlaced, old or young, want her.
    Charlotte turned from Sooner, and for a moment wondered how different their lives would have been if she’d stayed with the carnival or taken the child with her.
    “Focus on what you can fix,” Charlotte muttered as she pushed through the front door of the courthouse and headed down the steps.
    As she glanced down the steps toward the street, she spotted a very familiar set of broad shoulders. Detective Daniel Rokov. His tall build set him head and shoulders above most in a crowd, as did the finely tailored suit that tapered so perfectly from his broad shoulders to his lean waist. He’d worn that suit yesterday. He’d answered that page and realized he’d not have time to go home and change.
     
     
    Early this morning just as she’d reached for her purse at the motel room, he’d grabbed her by the hand, tugged her toward him, and kissed her. She’d leaned into his warmth as if she’d never been touched. Encouraged, he’d cupped her face and kissed her a second time. She’d wanted him so much.
    “Have dinner with me,” he whispered by her ear. “And no dodging the question this time.”
    Her perfume still clung to his skin. “You didn’t seem to mind my artful dodging.”
    “I want to know more about you.”
    “Getting to know each other isn’t part of the deal.”
    “What is the deal?”
    I don’t know anymore. “Sex.”
    He traced her jaw with his thumb. “Maybe it’s time to start thinking outside the box.”
    The easy freedom they’d promised in the beginning had vanished. And that was not good. Sleeping with a cop was one thing but dating one—especially one like Rokov—was another. He wouldn’t be content with pieces of her. He’d want everything: present, future, and past.
    “We shouldn’t see each other anymore.”
    His pager went off again, and when he’d glanced at the number, his face had darkened. “This isn’t over, counselor.”
     
    He was the last person she needed to see right now. Her nerves were raw, her defenses down, and Rokov would detect the weakness and use it.
    Charlotte pulled her dark sunglasses from her purse and put them on as she moved toward him. Of course, there’d be no avoiding him. But then why should they dance around each other? They were adults. His partner, Jennifer Sinclair, said something, and it prompted a smile that softened the warrior’s visage.
    However, when he glanced up and shifted his gaze to