Free Her New Worst Enemy by Christy McKellen Page B

again, shaking her
     head, apparently confused by her own behavior.
    “Look, why don’t you go shower and get yourself straight. I’ll clear up in here,”
     he said.
    They looked around the room at the food strewn all over the floor.
    “Okay. Thanks,” she said, pulling the torn sweater tighter around her. It was so large
     it came half-way down her thighs. Now he knew she wasn’t wearing anything underneath,
     he kind of liked it on her.
    She glanced up at him as she passed and gave him a half-hearted smile, before ducking
     her head down again and walking off. He watched her all the way out of the kitchen.
     Her hair was a mess of curls, even bigger in volume than unusual after their adventure
     on the kitchen table.
    He sank down onto a chair and put his head in his hands. What the hell was he doing?
    This was precisely why he’d held himself back from her for the last few days. There
     was a whole world of trouble coming his way, he was sure of it.
    The problem was, there was no way he could leave things here, no way, and once Penny
     and Will arrived, it would be almost impossible to get her on her own again.
    Based on her reaction just now, there was no chance he could walk away from this weekend
     with them both agreeing to put this crazy episode down to exceptional circumstances.
     And did he even want that? Truthfully he didn’t know what he wanted. He needed to
     figure out what he was going to do about this. And fast.

Chapter Five
    What just happened? Ellie asked herself as she stood under the shower, allowing the
     water to flatten her hair against her head. It ran in rivulets over her face, soothing
     her hot, swollen eyes. How could she have cried like that in front of him? Her cheeks
     burned fiercely at the memory and she screwed up her eyes in frustration.
    He’d been surprisingly kind about it. She never would have expected him to be so gentle
     with her afterwards. Hell, if someone had burst into tears after having sex with her,
     she’d probably have totally freaked out.
    Her body was alive with feeling now. She’d felt numb since Paul had walked out and
     grown used to it, but this encounter with Gideon had opened her right up again. She
     ached pleasantly from their fierce lovemaking and her heart still beat twice as fast
     as normal, but she felt exposed and uneasy with it.
    What was she going to do about this? She couldn’t get involved with someone like Gideon.
     He wasn’t interested in a serious relationship — he’d proved that over and over again
     with the string of women he dated. And he was too damn attractive. She would never
     be able to compete with the beauties he usually had hanging off his arm. She couldn’t
     put herself through that. She didn’t trust him. She didn’t trust herself to be able
     to handle him.
    She needed more than a fling. She needed someone who wanted to settle down and have
     kids. Like soon. She didn’t want to leave it much longer to start a family; she would
     be thirty soon and time was starting to run away from her.
    No way did she want to bring up kids on her own. She wanted to be with someone who
     would be around long term, who wouldn’t walk away from her when things got tough,
     or when someone better came along.
    No, Gideon was out as far as a serious relationship went. She wouldn’t be surprised
     if he kept his distance from her after her crying fit anyway. The thought made her
     insides clench. Despite the chaos of feelings it had brought, she’d absolutely loved
     having sex with him. Loved it. Her body hummed from the pounding it had taken and
     her cheeks grew hot as she replayed the scene in her head. His forcefulness had been
     a revelation. She’d loved him taking control like that. Paul had never made her feel
     as wanted, as sexy, as Gideon just had.
    She got out of the shower and threw some fresh clothes on. Her sweater would have
     to be binned; there was no way she could mend it after the savaging it had taken.
     A rush