Free Deadly Obsession by Jaycee Clark Page A

didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve called I don’t know how many times." He’d tried to keep the anger out of his words, but he’d been so damn scared at the idea of something happening to her. All the way into town, dark images danced in head. Then to find her whole and safe in her entry with another guy. Well, it was no wonder he couldn’t control his tongue.
    She didn’t say anything. He was tired of this. She’d scared the hell out of him.
    "You just type you’re going to answer the door in the middle of the night and then you don’t bother to call me or get back to IM to let me know you’re okay. Do you have any idea what was going through my mind. What is going through my mind? Damn it, Christian."
    She turned to him then, and he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. Slowly, he straightened away from the doorway.
    "I want to know what the hell is going on. Now." His steely words left little room for argument.
    Sighing she said, "I’ve just been getting some weird phone calls. You must have called while he did."
    "Weird how? He, who?" He walked toward her, but she backed up and he stopped.
    Her tongue darted out, licked her chapped lips, and he saw the tremble of her hand as she raked it through her hair.
    "Just-just weird. You know, midnight creepy phone calls. He was calling a lot." Her shoulders lifted on a shrug. "And tonight he left me a present. Gabe came over and took the thing."
    "A present?" Brayden asked. He waited, but she didn’t elaborate. Distance be damned. His heels clicked softly on the floor as he crossed to her. Her bent head rose when he stopped in front of her. He placed his hands palm down on either side of her, trapping her against the counter. "Some wacko is calling you, leaving you gifts and you don’t tell me?"
    She hadn’t said a damn word.
    Her indrawn breath was ragged, and she looked away from him. If she would just...
    "No, I didn’t. It’s not that big a deal. That’s all. I’m a big girl now. I don’t need to rely on you or your family for every little thing. Some things I have to do alone," she whispered.

    "What the hell are you talking about? This has nothing to do with me or ‘my’ family, which is yours too, by the way. I’m talking about us."
    Us. There, he’d said it. Us.
    "What about it all being a mistake?" she asked softly.
    Brayden sighed. "I don’t know. But..." Truth or lie?
    "But?"
    Tonight he’d been terrified some rapist had knocked on her door and had all but murdered her. He hadn’t been this scared since Tori and Ryan had been kidnapped.
    Truth.
    "I miss you."
    Her head jerked up and her smoky eyes met his. Disbelief and hope reflected in them. Or did he just imagine the hope?
    "I miss you," he repeated.
    "Oh." Her eyes darted away. The floral scent of her shampoo drifted up between them, reminding him of the night he hadn’t been able to forget.
    Christian, the night they’d shared, was like the tide against the rocks. It was constant and wearing--at the edge of his mind during the day, pounding at him during the night. He’d been stupid and the lying coward she’d called him. He missed her, and he was afraid he was losing her. Losing whatever connection they’d always seemed to have.
    To hell with this.
    Brayden took a chance. He reached up and cupped her face.
    "I’m sorry," he said.
    "For what?" Her brow furrowed.
    Brayden bit down. "For being stupid. For pushing you away. You were right, I’m an ass. I’m not like....
    I can’t always say.... Hell."
    The frown between her brows deepened.
    Sighing, he tried again. "I was wrong, that morning. I was wrong. You were right."
    Her eyes searched his and he wondered what they saw. And still, she didn’t say anything.
    "I miss you." God did he miss her. The smell of her, her smile, her laugh.
    That smoky gaze narrowed before she slid her eyes closed.

    Please don’t let it be too late. Brayden leaned closer, stretched his hand around to lose his fingers in the short hair at her nape and