Free Her Kind of Man by Elle Wright Page A

he suggested. “Just to keep an eye on him, make sure he stays where he is. Who knows? It might help turn up something on that woman.”
    We? He kept saying the word, and Allina couldn’t help but feel comforted by it. She wasn’t alone; that much was clear. It made her heart swell.
    Lying down on the bed, she stared up at the ceiling. Maybe Isaac would just lick his wounds and move on. But deep down, Allina knew better. “I know this is going to sound strange, but I have this feeling that he’s never going to give me up.” She met his gaze. “He’s going to come back for me. And that puts you and everybody else I love in jeopardy.”
    His jaw tightened. “He can try something, but I promise you this…if he brings his ass here, I’ll send him to the hospital. I’m not playing. Don’t worry about Syd and Cali. I’m pretty sure Morgan and Red will feel the same way. We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”
    Allina turned away, stared out the window.
    “I understand,” Kent said softly. “Something of this nature has brought up a lot of feelings and memories of your past. And it’s because you’re afraid in a way that you haven’t been in a while.”
    Kent rubbed her knee and a familiar feeling settled into her stomach. With everything going on, she hadn’t had time to really think about how she still felt about him. Sitting there in front of him, staring into his dark eyes, she wondered if her canceled wedding would change anything for them.
    Shaking her head as if to clear her mind, she asked, “Do you think I can use your computer? I want to e-mail my boss and let her know that I won’t be coming back.” It was a spur-of–the-moment decision to quit her job, but she knew she’d never go back to the chain bridal store she’d been working at for the last few months as an alterations associate.
    “Sure.” He stood up, glancing at his watch. “Use the one in the office. I’m going to run out to the store to get a few things. Will you be okay here?”
    “I’ll be fine. Go ahead.”
    He nodded and shot her a quick glance before he left her alone.
    She stared at the door for a few minutes after he closed it. They’d never been this close, physically. He’d never really invited her to his place much. The majority of the time they’d spent together was at her place or in a public setting. There was a stark difference between how he treated her as opposed to Syd, and even Cali. She used to wonder why, but figured it was because Syd was with his brother and Cali was…well, Cali. And her friend had been firmly and obviously fooling around with Red for most of their adult lives.
    She scooted out of the bed and headed down the hall toward the office. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside. Kent was very clean, almost to the point of being obsessive. She knew he hired a service to come in, but he hated dust because of his severe allergies and spent a lot of time cleaning. He hated clutter, so he didn’t have a lot of extra stuff lying around. The office was neat, with a drafting table, a large desk, two chairs, and a small cabinet that likely held his files. In the far corner of the room there was an easel with a covered painting on top. Two big monitors sat on the desk.
    Kent was a techie, a computer engineer at his day job. But he was also an artist. He loved being in front of a canvas or on his computer designing graphics. She’d tried to convince him to go into business for himself, but he’d balked at it. Which was a shame because he lit up when he was working on his passion. They had that in common, spending evenings curled up with a pad and a pencil, drawing sketches—sometimes together.
    She sat down at the desk and powered on the computer. Drumming her fingers against the desk, she waited for the system to come up. After a few seconds, she was able to log in to her e-mail.
    The plan was to e-mail her boss, let her know that she would not be coming back after her planned two-week