Free Savior (An Impossible Novel) by Julia Sykes Page A

piece of paper that said she had the right education, so she quickly found employment elsewhere.  I missed having a friend at work, but we still got together regularly for a good, long drinking session.
    That imperious brow rose again.  “The guy, Rose,” Penny insisted.  “Who’s the guy?”
    Shit.  I didn’t realize she was that perceptive.
    “What makes you think there’s a guy?”
    “Well, for one thing – don’t take this the wrong way – you’re not looking your best today.”
    I couldn’t help laughing at that.  I could always count on Penny to bluntly cut to the chase.  “How could I possibly take that the wrong way?”
    She waved away my sarcastic comment.  “You’re still drop-dead-gorgeous.  And I know not all of us are fortunate enough to not have to own foundation, but you really should invest in some if you’re going to have dark circles like that.  I’ve known you to pull an all-nighter and still show up at work the next day looking fresh as a daisy.  So how much sleep have you lost over this guy?”
    I touched my face self-consciously.  “Damn, does it show that badly?”
    “No one who didn’t know you would even notice,” she assured me.  “But then you ordered that drink and I knew something was up.  That has ‘man-drink’ written all over it.  What really worries me is I’ve never seen anyone under the age of sixty order it in a bar.  Please don’t tell me you’ve fallen for some geriatric.”
    I rolled my eyes at her.  “He’s probably not even thirty.”
    “Ha!”  She snapped her fingers and smiled triumphantly.  “So it is a guy.”
    “Fine,” I threw up my hands in defeat.  “It’s a guy.”
    She considered me carefully for a moment, tapping a perfectly-manicured fingernail against her full red lips.  “Why, Rose Baker, I don’t think I’ve ever known you to get your panties in a bunch over a man.  You usually eat them alive, not the other way around.”
    “I do not!”  I protested.
    My friend shot me a level look.  “I’ve seen you hunt down your quarry like a hungry lioness.  And you always get your kill.”
    “I am not a lioness!”  God, she made me sound like some sort of predator.  I wanted to be the prey.  But Penny didn’t know about my kinks, so I kept that piece of information to myself.
    “Okay, maybe a Siren, then,” she conceded.  “You tend to lure them in rather than tackling them to the ground.  But the fact is you always get the one you want, and you always get him on your terms.  Now the question is: Who has finally turned the tables on you?”
    “Yeah, I definitely prefer the Siren thing,” I deflected.
    “You didn’t answer my question,” she pointed out.  “Who is he, and what did he do to you?”
    I pursed my lips, not up for sharing.  She just cocked that damn eyebrow again.  I sighed, giving in to its power.
    “His name is Clayton.  And he didn’t do anything, exactly.  It’s… complicated.”
    I couldn’t tell her about what was going on with Greg and the FBI even if I had wanted to.  And I definitely didn’t want to talk about Greg.  I had barely seen him since he had gotten violent with me, and when I had he had been totally strung out.  The one time he had been lucid I had to bully him into eating something.  I tried to ask him how he was holding up, but he had just snapped at me until I gave up.
    Some of my frustration and hurt must have shown in my expression, because Penny nodded sagely.  “It looks like it is pretty complicated.  What’s wrong with him?  Is he mean to you?  I know you go for the rough, bad-boy type.  They’re hot, but they will always hurt you in the end.”
    Didn’t I know it.  Marco had taught me that lesson a long time ago.  He was brawny and tattooed and mean as hell.  But he was sweet to me, and I had loved him for it.  The fact that he was this terrifying guy who would deny his violent urges just for me made me feel special.  I thought