Free Promises by Ellen March

free.
    “I suggest you list en to the lady,” snarled Solomon. His amiable smiling expression was replaced with a mask of fury. His hand neatly hooked into the man’s collar, he shook him roughly, releasing him so suddenly he almost fell. “Now get the hell out of here before I lose my temper!”
    Alex stared at him i n shock, wondering why he was back but thankful he was. She unconsciously rubbed her arm.
    “You ok ay?” asked Solomon quietly, noticing her gesture. A muscle ticked against his jaw, the only evidence of his rage.
    Alex nodded , unable to speak. Feeling a slush of misery swamp through her, she stared down at the floor and counted the maze of wooden blocks, anything not to think.
    “Come on ,” he urged, taking her by the arm and noticing her flinch at the contact. “Let me look at that.”
    She moved quickly past him. “No, really. It’s okay.”
    “ I’ll walk you home.” His tone brooked no refusal.
    Once ou tside in the sunshine, his worried gaze scanned over her. “Who was that guy, anyway?”
    “My boss ,” she sighed. “I guess he could be my ex-boss, now. Shit, I can’t afford to be out of work.” She rubbed her head tiredly. “The thought of going back to Mother creases me.”
    Picking up on that snippet of news , Sol looked up, startled. “What do you mean?”
    “Well , if I lose my job, I can’t afford to keep my house, and that would mean moving back home,” she explained as if to a child.
    Sol stumbled, that bit of news disarming him. A slam of worry hit him square in the stomach. Alex moving was the one thing he couldn’t let happen. Not while he was working on getting her on her back. He decided he’d better have a word with her boss about her job situation, and also ensure the man didn’t pay any further visits. “Does he live around here?”
    She pointed towards a brick cottage set back on the hill a ways. The Bay was so small that most of its inhabitants lived along the main strip. “Just there.” Then she continued on home.
    Solomon paused and took note, then followed her .
    Alex opened her front door and stepped inside, noticing that Sol had followed her to her front step and hovered in the doorframe. She spun around and confronted him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
    H e held out his hands, trying to placate her. “Just coming in and making you a coffee while you change. Told you, I’m just being neighbourly.”
    “Yea h, and you know what I said to that.” She rubbed a hand across her tired eyes and heaved a drained sigh before giving in to him. “Make mine strong and black.” She trudged on heavy steps upstairs to change.
    Solomon ’s gaze settled over her as she entered the kitchen, still wearing her skirt, but in a different top. His eyes narrowing, he looked at the marks on her arm. “I’ll kill the bastard!” he swore, his temper exploding.
    “I bruise easy .” She was surprised by his reaction. She was unused to anyone caring about her. “Honest, it’s not as bad as it looks.” She took the coffee and sipped from it, peering across the small space to the man before her. His huge body commanded attention.
    “What did you come back for today?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “Decided to join. I want to be a fully paid-up member of your club.”
    “Really!” She shook her head. “Now why do I find that hard to believe?” A smile flitted across her lips as her mind strayed once again to the gutter.
    “You didn’t last night .” He took a sip from his coffee.
    “Sol, please tell me the truth ,” she begged, her eyes large and pleading. She nibbled at her lower lip and twisted her fingers together. And yet, underneath her nervousness he detected a glow, a heady surge of sex, and he connected with it.
    He sighed . She’d had enough. He’d tell her the truth all right. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stretched and flexed his shoulders. “No, we didn’t make love. Happy now?”
    “Yes ,” she sighed, then frowned. “So how