Free Deadly Shadows by Jaycee Clark

dominating. He all but sucked every extra space out of an area and he didn’t even move.
    “I told you, I’m fine.”
    His head tilted, the early morning sunlight shining through the skylight glinted off his black hair. “So you did.”
    “I’ve eaten. Lots of carbs, bready stuff. Today’s dietitians would cringe. Can I have some coffee now?” Truthfully she was craving orange juice, but knew better. Coffee, her stomach could probably handle, but not O.J.
    “No.”
    She looked at his left hand, noticed again it was unadorned. “You’re not married, are you?” “No.”
    “I can see why.”
    Though he grinned, it was cold and did not reach his eyes. “Can you? I doubt that.”
    The serious CEO was back.
    Jesslyn leaned up and propped her elbows on the table, her hands under her chin. “I hear a story behind that.”
    “And you’ve a story yourself.”
    So she did.
    “Why do you like to write?” he asked. “You do write, don’t you? Tim mentioned it.”
    Jesslyn chuckled. “Yes, I write.”
    “What do you write?”
    “Books.”
    Those breathtakingly blue eyes narrowed and she inwardly sighed.
    “What kind of books?”
    “Mayhem and danger. Girl finds herself in bad situation, sometimes saves herself and sometimes hero saves her, sometimes she saves hero. They, of course, live happily ever after, but that’s a must in romance.”
    His gaze roamed over her face and she felt it like a caress. “Romance, eh?”
    “Yep.”
    “You don’t seem the romance writing type.”
    She sat back. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I think it’s your attitude that ruins the image of some author dreaming up happy endings.”
    “What a stereotypical thing to say.”
    He grinned. “Who was it that remarked on CEO’s and burn outs?”
    For a moment neither said a word. Then he asked, “How long have you been writing?
     
     
    40
    Do you enjoy it?”
    “Very much. And I’ve written for years. Been published for about five.”
    “What did your husband think of it?” he asked.
    It was a question she’d gotten used to, others had asked it. But instead of answering him, she asked one of her own. “What would you say or do if your wife wanted to write about--what did you call it?--dreamy happy endings?”
    He thought for a moment, propping his chin in his hand. “I don’t know. If she was really serious about it, tell her to go for it.”
    His answered surprised her. “Really?”
    “Of course. Everyone should do what they want to. If they don’t, it only leads to resentment and hard feelings.”
    True. “Jerrod, my late husband, encouraged me.” Even if he hadn’t always completely understood. “He was my biggest supporter.”
    Aiden slowly shook his head. “You loved him.”
    “Well, one would hope.” She didn’t understand his comment. “Yes, I loved him, very much. He was my husband.”
    Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought this should be a strange conversation to be having with this man, but for some reason it wasn’t. Aiden could be easy to talk to, even though she never really knew what he’d say.
    “Tim said you had children?”
    She could talk about Jerrod, but the children … Jesslyn looked at the tabletop. “Yes.
    Two.” Pain whispered around her heart. Not the claw shredding pain it once had been, but still sharp enough to hurt. She swallowed.
    “Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked.
    She smiled. “What is it you’ve been doing?”
    His brows furrowed. “Never mind.”
    Jesslyn waited. “It’s okay. It was three years ago. Sometimes it still hurts. Lots of times it still hurts. Not so much what was, like it was before, but what can never be.” She ran her finger in a circle on the tabletop and shrugged. “However, life is life and goes on.”
    “What happened?” He shifted as though uncomfortable. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
    “Was that the personal question?”
    He shook his head.
    “No? Well,