Free Darkness Torn Asunder by Alexis Morgan Page B

my heart out without hesitation.”
    If that was true, it seemed only fair because his own heart was feeling pretty damn battered and bruised right now. He fought hard to keep up the pretense. “Don’t you think that’s a little over-the-top, Jana?”
    “No, I don’t.”
    He watched as she drew herself up, shoulders back and head held high. Damn, she was magnificent. Jana studied him from head to toe, clearly not impressed with what she saw. “I can walk myself to my car. I don’t need you watching over me, Emmett Sloan.”
    She jerked the door open and stalked out. He let her go, knowing he could see her from the front window. Before she reached the middle of the street, she did an about-face and came marching right back into the bar.
    “One more thing, just to make sure you know exactly what you’re throwing away. I love you—even if you are a big idiot. What we have together is worth fighting for, but obviously you’re too gutless to even try.” Then she grabbed the collar of his shirt and jerked his face down to give him a rough kiss. “Think about that when you walk these streets alone.”
    That brief connection set his body on fire, making him want to strip her naked and take her right there on the bar. But she was gone again, leaving him staring after her, hurting, horny, and wondering if anything would ever feel right again.

Chapter 8
    J ana was back. Emmett deliberately turned his back to the door, refusing to acknowledge her presence. It had been three weeks since he’d told her that it was over between them. Evidently he was the only one who believed that was true. As he watched Jana’s reflection in the mirror behind the bar, his boss sidled over closer to where Emmett stood. He took note of the fact that Dan still kept a healthy distance between them. Smart man.
    “So, tell me, Emmett. Are you going to keep ignoring her, or wise up and take what Jana is offering?”
    Emmett fought down a hot surge of frustration. He put his hands flat on the counter and counted to ten before trusting himself to speak. “Man, I know you’re my boss and everything, but shut the hell up.”
    Dan moved off long enough to ring up a customer, but he came right back. “One more thing, and then I promise I’ll shut up. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, and I don’t really care. That’s none of my damn business. All I want to say that if a classy woman like Jana looked at me like she looks at you, I’d crawl back to her over broken glass and grovel with everything I had if that’s what it took to get her to forgive me.”
    Emmett had to talk to somebody or explode. He grabbed Dan’s arm and dragged his interfering ass into the storeroom and slammed the door shut. At least his boss went along willingly and didn’t immediately start swinging or yelling for help.
    “It isn’t like that. She’s not mad at me.” Emmett closed his eyes and leaned against a stack of boxes. “No, that’s not true. Jana is mad, but not because I did something wrong.”
    And that wasn’t right, either. “Okay, I did something, but I don’t think it was wrong. She does.”
    Instead of offering sage advice or even sympathy, his rat bastard boss laughed. Seriously, Emmett’s life was screwed up all the way to hell and back, and Dan thought it was funny. Luckily this wasn’t one of the days where Emmett had a jones on for punching somebody.
    “It’s not funny, Dan. She’s hurting because I told her it couldn’t work between us. I’ve known all along that she deserves better than an ex-con with few prospects, but that’s not the problem.” He realized he was rubbing his chest again and forced himself to stop. “There’s something wound up tight inside of me, something I can’t seem to control, and I don’t want Jana to be in the way if it ever breaks loose.”
    “Well, shit.” His friend’s face turned sober. “I apologize for laughing, and she’s not the only one hurting here, Emmett. It’s just