Free Perfect Stranger by Kerri M. Patterson

was on the
warpath to seek all kinds or retribution when I left. I just wanted
away from it all. I guess I thought I would find something if I
came here. Some peace, relaxation. Some reassurance, maybe? What he
did…" She laid her hand over her broken heart. "What he did left me
so hurt and insecure. There is no excuse for anyone to treat
another person that way. He could have ended our engagement, called
off the wedding. I still don’t understand why he let me go all the
way up to the wedding day believing everything was as it should
be." She stopped herself, looking back up at Jericho. "He was very
cruel."
    Jericho's jaw ticked, and he clenched his
teeth. "You have nothing to be insecure about. Some men can be real
asses." When silence began to fill in around them, he asked, "So, a
good sister, a badass sister … where does Chloe fit in?" He reached
out and tucked a shortened strand of hair behind her ear, trailing
a finger along her jaw, lifting so her stare met his.
    Chloe shrugged as she looked into his
darkened gaze. His touch caused a tingle along her jaw. "In the
middle somewhere, I guess."
    "Not too gentle, not too mean. Good place to
be." He stepped back. "My plan is to go to the airport tomorrow and
use our new IDs to get to the U.S. I'll see you back to those
sisters of yours."
    Chloe nodded. Thinking of
her sisters made her want to cry, but at the same time, she had the
strangest notion to want Jericho to wrap his arms around her and give her
comfort. Her fingers fluttered to her neck where he had kissed her
earlier in that little act of subterfuge. Her cheeks glowed with
warmth, the warmth spreading down from there.
    "You should get some rest." Jericho pushed
off the railing. "And Chloe—"He turned to her, brushing her jaw
with his fingers once more before stuffing his hands into his
pockets. "For what it's worth, I think you are a very lovely
woman." He turned to saunter inside, pausing at the sliding door to
wait for her.
    It was a second before Chloe could will her
legs to move.
    ****
    Jericho purposefully stayed away as Chloe
went to sleep on the couch. He was having a problem keeping his
hands off her. These feelings were foreign to him, having never had
a woman around while he was in the field before.
    He clenched his teeth and balled his hands
into fists, remembering how her legs had pressed beside his as they
rode earlier, her slender body tight against him, her breasts
pressed in his back. And then, there was that damn haunting moment
from this morning when the wind had fluttered the clothing on the
line away, and he had caught a peek of her tan, shapely ass in that
bright orange thong.
    Jericho's nails dug into his palms at the
memory of the thong, sparkling in the sunlight, the color
contrasting attractively with her skin-tone. He remembered the
curves of her shapely bottom. The sight had made him want to do
many things with Chloe, and the thoughts of those things had driven
him to utmost distraction, especially when she’d danced for them
earlier. He had been lost in a fantasy, stripping her with his eyes
in the Carvalhos’s dining room.
    Jericho shook himself mentally.
    That was definitely not something to be thought of while in the
field. Our situation is dangerous enough
as it was, Jericho reminded
himself.
    A blinding shot of desire raced through his
veins then. He would swear he had never been so horny in all his
adult life.
    He cursed himself when he realized just how
much she affected him. His heart thumped, and his blood gushed
hotly in his veins. He was halfway to hard just thinking of that
little peek he'd taken earlier at the clothesline. He was a lecher
of the highest order for doing that.
    Guilt pinged at his conscious. She had
already been taken advantage of once, terribly, and he wanted to
track the insolent fuck down and … and what? Wasn't he somewhat
guilty of taking advantage of Chloe, too? She hadn't offered the
sight she'd unknowingly given him. She had trusted him to keep