Free Unstoppable Force (Force of Nature Series) by Kathi S. Barton

flushed and handed her the
next two bags. The last bag was stuff he’d keep to himself. CJ smiled over the
box of dark chocolates and grinned at him over the strawberries and cream.
    “Mom said she wasn’t eating well. I
thought fruit would help her regain her strength.” He dropped his head as he
put them back in the bag. CJ’s laughter was soft and he was embarrassed. “I
just want her to get better.”
    “Of course you do. We all do. She’s very
hurt.” He looked up at her. “I don’t just mean her body, but her heart as well.
I know just what she feels like to be rejected by a parent and both of hers did
it to her. Poor girl.” She turned back to him once more. “And Connor? You have
to be honest with her. She won’t…she deserves nothing less than that.”
    He nodded as she left the room. CJ had
gone through a lot and he had forgotten about that. He moved toward the stairs
and thought about how best to approach Lou. He grinned when he thought with armor
plating might be best.
    ~~~
    She heard him walking up the stairs. The
house creaked a great deal and she wondered if anyone else was aware of it. She
turned to him in mid pace when he opened the door behind her. He had his hands
full and she started toward him when she noticed that he was smiling at her.
    It was the most beautiful thing she’d
ever seen. She tried to remember the last time anyone had ever smiled at her
when not making fun of her or worse. She took a step back when he shut the door
behind him with his foot.
    “I got some things for you. Nothing
much. I just noticed that my shirts were a little big on you and thought you’d
like something softer to wear to bed.” He handed her one of the bags. “The lady
at the store said that they were warm too.”
    She took the bag from him and pulled out
the bright pink fuzzy pajamas. When she put them close to her cheek, she looked
at him. He was busy with another one of the bags and motioned for her to come
closer.
    “You didn’t have to do this. I’m just
fine sleeping in the other shirt I own.” She moved closer, but not enough where
he could touch her. “You should save your money for someone else.”
    He laughed and handed her a box. “It’s a
reader thing. There are some books on it. Mostly classics because they came
with it for free. But I had the man at the bookstore set you up with an
account. You can download…I think he said seventy-five books, on it according
to the gift card that came with it. Anything you’d like. Myles has been reading
this book by a vampire friend of Phil’s. I guess you might like those too.”
    “Why?” He looked at her with that smile
again. She tried her best to ignore it and asked again. “Why are you suddenly
being nice to me?”
    “I should have been nice to you from the
beginning. But I was an ass instead.” She nodded and he laughed again. “You
could say that I’m turning over a new leaf.”
    “I don’t want you to turn over anything
for me. I need to get going on this sentence so I can move on.” She put the
things on the dresser next to her and ran her fingers over the soft material
again before she continued. “I won’t do whatever it is you want me to do. I
wouldn’t do it for him and I won’t do it for you.”
    “Touch me.” She took a step back when he
advanced toward her. “You can see the future, right? Then touch me and tell me
what you see between us. What I can do for you.”
    She laced her fingers together behind
her and took another step back. “No. I won’t. You’ve no idea what it does
to…you have no idea what happens to people when I touch them. They feel…the
connection is very strong.”
    “I trust you. Very much.” He was close
enough that she could feel his heat and when he put his hands on her arms, she
shivered from the contact. “Do you just use your hands, or something else, to
make contact?”
    “My hands. But I won’t do it. It’s…I’m
not a parlor act.” He smiled bigger. She wanted to tell