Free Star Bright by Catherine Anderson

She asked the question with an incredulous laugh that she hoped was convincing. “I have a birth certificate, passport, and driver’s license to prove who I am.”
    “Identification can be faked.”
    “Not anymore,” she countered. “All government records are computerized and protected by impenetrable firewalls.”
    “Difficult to breach, perhaps, but not impossible.” He smiled slightly. “Nothin’ is impossible for a talented hacker. For a price, fake identification can still be acquired.”
    “I—” She gulped to steady her voice. “Can I just go, please?”
    “Somehow that doesn’t strike me as bein’ equitable.” His lips shimmered in the overhead fluorescent lights as he spoke. “You come into my world, you make me feel like an idiot for trustin’ you, and now you wanna waltz away without one word of explanation?”
    That was precisely what she wanted. Why couldn’t he just let it go at that?
    Only the grip of his fingers on her arm told her that he had no such intention. He wasn’t hurting her—yet. But she could feel the suppressed strength that he might unleash on her at any moment.
    “What do you want from me?” she asked shakily.
    “The truth.”
    That was the one thing Rainie couldn’t give him. Too many people, including herself, would be hurt.
     
    The tremors Parker felt coursing through Anna Pritchard’s body made him feel ashamed of himself. He’d wrestled with foals bigger than she was. A physical confrontation between them could have only one possible conclusion. But did that give him the right to push her around? He had a very bad feeling that she’d already been intimidated enough times in her young life.
    When she tried to jerk free of his grasp again, he didn’t have the heart to hold on. What kind of a man bullied someone her size? Even worse, what kind of a man had struck her with enough force to lay open her cheek? She looked so scared that he doubted she could spit if he yelled, “Fire.”
    After releasing her, Parker stepped over to the closed door and leaned his shoulder against the wood, still effectively barring her escape, only now without touching her. He needed to reassure her somehow. Problem was, he had no idea where to start.
    “You know, Anna, I’m kind of peculiar in some ways.”
    Her eyes went wide. He went back over what he’d said and wished he could recall the statement. The word peculiar was clearly equivalent to crazy in her mind.
    “What I mean is, I don’t always march to the same drum-beat as everyone else,” he amended.
    That didn’t work, either.
    “All right, scratch all that.” Damn it. Just like his brothers Clint and Zach, he’d inherited his father’s amazing talent for always saying the wrong thing. “What I’m tryin’ to say is . . .” What the hell was he trying to say? He’d never been good at beating around the bush. He was a direct man who shot from the hip. Whenever he tried to soften his delivery, he screwed it up. “Let me just say it without frills. Okay? If you lied because you’re tryin’ to escape an abusive relationship, I won’t hold it against you. A lot of employers might, but I won’t.”
    Taking measure of his audience, Parker decided that she still looked like a rabbit searching for a bolt-hole.
    “In fact,” he went on, “I admire your courage if that’s the case. A lot of women don’t have the guts to leave. It’s a pretty scary proposition to turn your back on everything familiar. No friends, no job, no home. That takes a lot of backbone.”
    His mouth had gone as dry as stale bread. His little sister, Sam, had gotten the hell beaten out of her a few times, and she’d been afraid to tell Parker for fear he’d end up in jail for killing her first husband. Major possibility. But how could he impart his feelings about abusive men to this frightened girl?
    Yes, in many ways she was only a girl, twenty-five and full-grown, but still far from being worldly. He could see the shattered innocence