Free WalkingSin by Lynn LaFleur Page A

came from her lips before she could stop it.
    “C’mere.” He tugged her into his arms,
gently coaxed her cheek to his shoulder. Kelcey wrapped her arms around his
waist, accepting the comfort he freely offered. He rubbed soothing circles on
her back, the way he had Saturday night after her nightmare.
    She didn’t know how long they stood there
before her tears finally stopped. The desperate need for a tissue made her
leave his arms long before she wanted to. “My nose is running.”
    “Kleenex in the living room by my
recliner.”
    Walker looked up and thumped his tail when
she walked into the living room. She took long enough to rub his ears before
she popped two tissues from the box and blew her nose. Those goose bumps that
seemed to pop up whenever Dax came near covered her skin again. She turned to
find him standing behind her, close but not close enough to touch.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    Kelcey nodded.
    “I have an idea.”
    If it had to do with her telling him about
her past, she didn’t like that idea at all. “What?”
    “I think we should get drunk.”
    His suggestion didn’t sink into her brain
at first. When it did, she burst out laughing.
    Dax grinned. “Hell of an idea, don’t you
think?”
    “We can’t get drunk. We have to work
tomorrow.”
    He shrugged. “So we’ll get highly plastered
instead. How’s that?”
    “You’re insane.”
    “What fun is life if you don’t act a little
insane every once in a while?”
    Dax’s philosophy sounded like Emma’s. If
she was here right now, she wouldn’t hesitate to go along with his idea.
    Maybe it’s time I let loose and do
something a little insane too.
    “Okay. Let’s get crazy.”
    * * * * *
    Kelcey held up her glass so Dax could pour
more wine into it. She had no idea how much wine she’d drunk, but she knew he’d
opened a second bottle a short time ago. Her brain felt deliciously fuzzy.
    She sat in his office with him, looking at
photographs on his computer. He’d shown her pictures he’d taken of the deer on
his property, all the ones for the scrapbook his mom was making for Alaina,
people around Lanville. He had wonderful shots of kids playing basketball,
fishing, running in the schoolyard. The scenery pictures were beyond amazing.
    A folder with the name “Trash and Erase”
caught her attention. She pointed to it. “What’s in there?”
    “Nothing.” Dax quickly closed several folders
he had open, taking him back to the main pictures folder.
    “Wait a minute. What are you hiding?”
    “I’m not hiding anything.”
    The wicked gleam in his eyes proved
otherwise. Heat whooshed through her body when she realized exactly what he had
in that folder. “You have pictures of naked women.”
    Dax leaned back in his chair, crossed his
arms over his chest. “Do I?”
    The wine swimming through her system gave
her courage. Kelcey laid her hand on the mouse, determined to find that folder
and open it.
    “Oh no.” Dax quickly took the mouse away
from her and laid it on the other side of the keyboard.
    “Hey! I want to see.”
    “You like looking at pictures of naked
women?”
    “Ah ha! So you admit that’s what’s in that
folder.”
    His lips twitched as if he was trying to
keep from laughing. “I’ll admit I’m a man who appreciates the female body.”
    Kelcey didn’t understand why the image of
Dax looking at nude pictures of women seemed so hot. “What’s with that ‘trash
and erase’ name?”
    “I have a deal with my brothers. If
something happens to me, they have to delete that folder and securely empty the
trash so there’s no trace of it before anyone starts checking out my computer.”
    “You mean like your parents?”
    Dax chuckled. “No. They wouldn’t have a
problem with those pictures. My parents are cool. My mom would probably
critique the pictures. ‘You can tell that one was airbrushed’,” he said in a
higher voice, mimicking his mother. “’Those breasts can’t be real. Her butt is
way too