Free Hide From Evil by Jami Alden

do the same, but he felt the tension in his shoulders unravel a degree as the cold breeze blew across his face. “You’re going to be cold.”
    “I’m fine. The heat’s cranked up so much I need to strip off a few layers.”
    Jesus, he wished she wouldn’t use words like strip .
    The menu had barely changed in twenty-five years, but Sean studied it like his life depended on it, wondering how a woman could be sexy stripping off a parka that made her look like the Michelin Man.
    “We’re causing quite the stir,” Krista said after a few minutes. Sean looked up. Sure enough, the handful of regular customers were sneaking glances at their booth, informed by Nancy of Krista’s identity, if the glares were anything to go by.
    “Not every day a former convict has dinner with the prosecutor who put him on death row,” he bit out, angry with himself that he hadn’t anticipated this. Shit, he should have ignored her woeful look and left her in front of the B&B to freeze, but no, he had to be the nice guy and take her someplace warm, keep her company. You’d think he would have learned, especially after what had happened with Evangeline Gordon, that his stupid fucking chivalrous streak never brought him anything but trouble.
    Now it got him here, across the table from a woman he wanted despite all logic and common sense, trying to ignore curious stares that made his skin crawl.
    Nancy came by to take their order herself, her glare never leaving Krista’s face.
    “If looks could kill,” Krista muttered.
    “You’ll get used to it,” he lied. “I did.”
    “I get a lot of dirty looks in my line of work.” Krista slumped against the leather cushioning of the booth.
    She was quiet for a few minutes, staring out the window at the light traffic on Main Street. Their food was delivered quickly. Krista smiled and thanked Nancy, never even flinching when her bowl of scalding hot chili threatened to teeter over in her lap. Krista calmly steadied the bowl and picked up her spoon. “You’ve been coming here all your life?” Her blond eyebrows arched as she lifted a spoonful of chili to her mouth.
    Sean nodded and swallowed a mouthful of battered cod before he answered. “My grandfather built the cabin back in the fifties. I came up every summer for at least a month until my sophomore year, and I had football camp starting in late July.”
    “Why come back here?” she asked, indicating the mix of curious and hostile stares glued to their booth. “Why not a fresh start?”
    Sean shook his head. “It’s the closest place to home I have,” he replied. He didn’t want to delve into the details, how after his parents’ death and moving in with his grandparents he’d felt the need to hang on to the one place that was a constant, the one place where he’d known nothing but happiness. After he’d been released from prison, ping-ponging around Seattle and trying to get a handle on his life, he’d come back here in an attempt to regain some sense of belonging.
    He didn’t say any of it, but the way Krista was looking at him it was as though she knew.
    “Anyway, there’s no such thing as a fresh start for me.”
    Krista’s mouth pulled tight. “No, I don’t suppose there is.” She finished off her chili, sat back with a sigh, and picked up her beer. “So you played football,” she said with a faint smile. “Why am I not surprised?”
    “Not just played,” Sean said, unable to stop himself from smiling back. “Captain.”
    Krista laughed and took a sip of her beer and then trailed her finger down the damp glass. Sean forced his eyes to stay locked on her face and not on that slender finger sliding up, down, up, down. She took another sip, her pink tongue chasing a droplet of beer across her bottom lip. Sean shifted, his pants suddenly two sizes too small in the crotch. “Did you play sports?” he said in a desperate effort to distract himself.
    But her sly smile just made him harder. “I was a nerd. Braces.