Free Break for Me by Shiloh Walker Page B

seeing him again?
    Whoa.
    That thought really hurt.
    Where did this come from? When did this happen?
    From the corner of her eye, she watched him as he stood over the stove. Vegetables
     and steak sizzled in the pan and rice steamed in a pot on the back burner.
    A funny, familiar ache moved through her. This wasn’t a new thing, either. This was why he pissed her off so easily. Why she avoided him. This
     had been building between them for a while, but she just hadn’t wanted to face it.
    It was time she did, though.
    Her brother, Tate, had been running from the truth all these years … and she’d been
     doing some running of her own. She was a hypocrite, too, because she’d called him
     out on it, while she was still here trying to figure out if she was going to face
     the facts or just continue to hide, like the scared little girl she’d been fifteen
     years ago.

Chapter Seven
    Pushed too damn hard, he told himself as they worked together in silence, cleaning up after the meal.
    He’d told her he’d handle it, but she had just rolled her eyes and gone about helping
     him clean up.
    Dean wasn’t about to argue. He didn’t mind cooking—actually, he kind of enjoyed it,
     but he hated the cleanup part with a passion.
    It was a welcome distraction now, though. Something else to think about besides just
     her. Besides the fact that he’d pushed her too hard—attraction was one thing, but
     telling her that this wasn’t something that had just … hell, happened? Yeah, she didn’t
     need this on top of all the other shit she was dealing with.
    Now he had to figure out if he’d fucked it up good or just set them back a little.
    The bottle of wine from the local winery, Lanthier, had enough left for them to split
     a glass and he held it up as she finished rinsing off a plate. She smiled at him but
     the smile was distracted, like she was a million miles away.
    At least she ain’t running, right?
    As much as he admired her very nice ass, he was getting kind of tired of seeing that
     view more than anything else. So he had to be happy that she hadn’t taken off.
    He knew enough about Jensen Bell to know one simple thing—if she’d decided she didn’t
     want to be here, she wasn’t going to hang around, not even for the sake of politeness.
    The silence gratedon him as he finished his wine. He dumped the bottle, trying to
     find some way to fill that silence, but when he turned around, Jensen was standing
     in front of him. Right there.
    So close. Too close.
    The scent of her, rain, sweet woman, soft skin, and the subtle fragrance of the lotion
     she wore, flooded his head as he reached up to steady himself before he crashed into
     her. Fingers closing around her arms, he looked down into her face, watched as a slow,
     subtle flush crept over her cheeks. “Sorry,” he said and his voice came out low and
     raw. Clearing his throat, he went to step back.
    She reached out and rested her hands on his waist.
    He stilled.
    Barely even a foot separated them and then, not even that as she moved forward, pressing
     her body to his.
    “I’ve got to tell you the truth, Dean,” she said, her voice soft. “I don’t think I’m
     into comfort sex or being seduced.”
    His gut tightened. Confusion warred inside him. It didn’t help, either, just hearing her say the word sex . Seeing her mouth—that pretty mouth that just drove him crazy—and knowing he wasn’t
     going to be …
    She leaned into him, her hands sliding under the hem of his T-shirt, her fingers cool
     against his skin as she rose up onto her toes and pressed her mouth to his. “If there’s
     going to be a seduction, how about we seduce each other?”
    Her mouth opened against his and he was still processing what she’d said even as he
     hauled her up against him.
    Spinning around, he boosted her up and set her on the island. She laughed against
     his mouth and he tangled a fist in her hair, yanked her head back.
    “Quiet,” he muttered. Then he