Free In Perfect Time by Sarah Sundin

tell her anyway? He’d tell her more lies. He’d condemn her evil ways. And he certainly wouldn’t answer her questions.
    What if someone did? What if Roger Cooper wrote her a letter that told her everything she wanted to know? Would she surrender control to this God?
    Never.
    Kay climbed into the jeep, sidled up to Hal, and kissed him on the cheek. “To the beach. I need some fun.”
    “Now we’re talking, baby.” He turned the jeep and headed down the road toward Naples.
    Kay unpinned her cap, tore off her necktie, and flirted recklessly with Hal.
    Controlling men was her revenge against her father, breaking his control over her, infuriating him, embracing the badness inside her. What did it matter? Her father rejected her, the Lord rejected her, but men accepted her.
    Kay took off Hal’s cap and played with his smooth blond hair. He talked about something or other, and she smiled and laughed and tossed her hair in the wind.
    Hal thought he was in charge, but he wasn’t. His interest grew, glinted in his eyes, and careened over the ledge into infatuation. Now she had complete and utter control. He’ddo whatever she wanted, and he’d behave, trying to earn what she’d never give him.
    “Here we are.” The officer in the backseat leaned forward and patted Hal’s shoulder. “Stop at the corner. Thanks for the lift.”
    “Any time, buddy.” Hal stopped the jeep.
    Kay spun around. Her hands lifted and opened, and everything she held slipped away. They were leaving? They were leaving her alone with Hal?
    “Where are you . . . ?” The words creaked in her throat. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
    The officer—what was his name?—gave her half a grin and helped his girlfriend out of the jeep. “You’re kidding me, right?”
    Hal laughed and jerked the gearshift into first. “That wouldn’t be fun for either of us. Bob’s got a private hideaway in town.”
    The couple strolled up a cross street, glued to each other’s sides. Bob looked over his shoulder. “See you at six.”
    “Six.” Hal waved and drove down the street.
    Kay struggled to gather her breath, her bearings. Where were they? Some village, creamy-plastered houses crowded together around a narrow road, like every other village she’d seen. How long had they been on the road? Half an hour? An hour? “Where are we?”
    “Almost there, baby. You’ll love it.” One broad hand guided the steering wheel, and the other snaked around her shoulder.
    The beach. She blew off her anxiety. What was she worried about? A nice big beach teeming with people. Romantic enough for Hal and public enough for Kay.
    Not far past the village, Hal turned onto a road paralleling the rocky coast. He slowed down, scanning the roadside. “Yeah, here we are.” He pulled over and parked.
    A gray, slimy feeling oozed around Kay’s stomach. She gazed over the jumble of rocks down to the sea. “I don’t see a beach.”
    “You have to climb down the rocks to get there.” Hal got out of the jeep and grabbed blankets and a basket from the backseat. “Should have warned you to wear better shoes.”
    The perfect excuse. “I can’t get down there in these high heels.”
    “Take them off.”
    “I’ll rip my stockings.”
    “Take them off.” He set down the basket, covered his eyes, and turned around. “I promise I won’t watch.”
    Hmm. A sign of chivalry. “Break that promise and you’re taking me home.”
    “Absolutely.”
    With her eyes trained on the back of his head, Kay reached under her skirt and unsnapped her stockings from her garter belt.
    “Mm.” Hal’s head sagged back. “Sweetest sound in the world.”
    “If you turn around, it’ll be the last sound you ever hear.” Kay rolled a stocking down her leg.
    “I like girls with spirit.”
    And Kay liked fellows who knew better than to mess with girls with spirit. After she stuffed her stockings in her shoes and set them on the seat of the jeep, she stepped out onto the prickly, chilly