Free Signs of Love by Kimberly Rae Jordan Page B

initiated the meeting, she’d planned to pay. She laid it on the table, hoping he didn’t see her fingers trembling. Sliding out from the booth, she said, “You have my number. Call me when you make your decision.”
    “Alana. No.”
    He reached for her arm, but Alana evaded him. If just being near him brought about reactions she’d thought she’d moved past, she couldn’t imagine what his touch might do.
    She didn’t look at him again as she moved as quickly as she could to the entrance of the restaurant. He called her name again, but Alana was no longer interested in talking with him. She spotted a bus approaching the stop she’d arrived at earlier, and she started running toward it. It didn’t matter where the bus was going, she just needed to be on it. She’d figure out how to get home once she’d put some distance between herself and Justin.
    “Alana!”
    She was a bit surprised that he hadn’t managed to catch up with her, but a quick glance over her shoulder showed he was only part way across the parking lot. As she climbed onto the bus, she flashed her pass at the driver. When his gaze went past her, she saw concern there.
    “Please just go,” Alana said, taking advantage of what the driver had likely deduced from the scene unfolding in front of him.
    Justin’s black leather jacket and large build gave him a scary look that no doubt helped make up the driver’s mind to get going before Justin could reach them. As the bus lurched forward, she slumped down into a seat on the far side so that she didn’t have to see Justin.
    Anger coursed through her. Partly at herself—she should have been able to handle being around him—but she was also angry at Justin. Maybe she shouldn’t have run off, but frankly, once she’d realized the sole purpose of Justin’s meeting with her had been to get information on her and not to discuss Genevieve’s hearing loss, there had been no reason to stay. If he had come right out and asked her about her past, she would have told him. From conversations she’d had with Beth, it had been apparent Justin was very protective of his family. With that perspective, it made sense that he’d be concerned about her presence in their lives.
    As the distance between her and Justin grew, Alana slowly came to the realization she probably shouldn’t have just run off like that. But her fear, anger and not wanting to see pity in Justin’s gaze had pushed common sense from her mind.
    She sighed as she rested her head against the glass window for a moment before straightening and pulling the cord to request a stop. She needed to get off this bus and on the one that would take her to Caden.
    ~*~*~
    Justin stalked back into the restaurant. Though he’d left the twenty on the table—which would have covered the bill—he returned to the booth he’d shared with Alana and slid into the seat. Thankfully, at this time of the day there weren’t too many people in the restaurant to witness what had just gone down.
    He sat for a moment staring blankly at the table. In his mind, all he could see were the scars marring Alana’s skin and the fact that her arm had been thin…painfully so. And her words still rang in his head.
    If you take a less above-board approach, you’ll likely be able to get past the seal to find the file filled with the pictures taken of the injuries I sustained as a result of my ex-husband’s abuse of me.
    Even though he’d suspected something along those lines, hearing her say the words and looking at the proof for himself sickened him. Justin was no stranger to violence. Between his time in the military and viewing the photographs taken at the scene of his family’s murders, he had an up close and personal acquaintance with violence. But seeing the scars on Alana’s arms and imagining what her son might have endured or seen troubled him more than he liked to admit.
    “Is everything okay?”
    Justin looked up to see the waitress standing beside the booth, her