Free Deadly Shades (Shades Series) by H. D. Thomson

CHAPTER ONE
    “I thought we went through this already.” Vaguely aware of the movement of people walking around her, Kennedy sat on a bench in the mall with potted plants on either side of her. She shouldn’t have answered her cell, but then when it came to Luke, she always seemed to cave. Plus, she could only ignore his calls for so long.
    “You could have at least given me the respect to break up in person.” Anger laced Luke’s voice. “Shit, Kennedy. We just passed the one year mark.”
    She closed her eyes and struggled to bank the emotion wrapped around her throat. What could she say? He was right.
    “We both know why you ran.” His husky voice washed over her senses. “I scare you. I make you feel. And you just can’t stand that.”
    A baby started bawling ten feet away. “Luke, right now isn’t the time. There are crowds everywhere.”
    “We’ll talk later.”
    Luke didn’t give her a chance to argue. He’d hung up. She disconnected the phone and sat on the bench. She didn’t like hurting like this. That’s why she’d broken up. If she’d stayed any longer, the hurt would have just gotten worse, and she couldn’t handle that. She blinked back tears but they spilled over her lashes.
    Where was her self-control? For God’s sake she was in a public place with people everywhere. She stuffed her phone into her purse, pulled the straps over her shoulder and wiped impatiently at her cheeks with the back of her hands.
    She rose on unsteady legs and started for the exit. The idea of seeing Luke again in person made her stomach flop and her chest tighten. And her body... Her body was reacting in a very needy way. The idea of being in his arms again, to feel the weight of his body against her, to—
    Enough! Luke was just a man. A man that was screwing with her head. Mentally shaking herself, Kennedy moved toward the main doors that lead to the south parking lot. She didn’t want to buy presents right now, she didn’t want to deal with all the people milling around, shopping, eating, talking.
    A woman stepped in front of her. Kennedy stumbled to a stop and almost collided with her.
    “Take these.” The woman with a halo of blond, chin-length hair and dressed in a black and white pant suit shoved something at her. In reflex, Kennedy caught the item in both hands. 
    “What’s this?” Kennedy stared down at her hands. A pair of sunglasses of all things. She glanced up.
    “Just take them,” the blond insisted. A strange light—fear, maybe anger, Kennedy didn’t quite know—flared in the woman’s brown eyes. 
    “I don’t need sunglasses.”
    “Hah, they’re not sunglasses. At least not any I’ve ever worn!” The woman backed away. “Just take them. Maybe they’ll work better for you than they did for me.”
    Before Kennedy had a chance to protest further, the blond pivoted and lurched into the crowd toward the food court.
    Kennedy followed. Two teenage boys bumped against her as she wove around people. Saturday and two weeks before Christmas filled the mall with shoppers in record numbers. Clutching the glasses in one hand, she came to a stop and searched the crowd.
    No sign of the blond anywhere.
    “Oh, heck,” Kennedy muttered under her breath. Living in Phoenix, she was bound to come across some wacky people. It was such a huge city. But still...
    To get away from the noise and people and clear her head, Kennedy stepped outside and onto the sidewalk. Cool air brushed against her face. The crowds were far fewer here.
    She glanced down at the glasses in her hand. Frowning, she turned them over, once, twice. They looked like a pair of standard sunglasses. Sleek, modern and expensive if she could go by the lenses and thick silver and black frames. Yet, they were lightweight in her hand. All very normal. The woman must have been talking nonsense.
    Still... Kennedy opened the temple arms and ran a thumb over each. She’d never seen a material quite like it. Not plastic, yet not metal. Even