Free The Fireside Inn by Lily Everett Page A

healed, and I couldn’t stand to let Miles down. I couldn’t stand to tell him the truth.”
    “You didn’t want your friends to find out you can’t read. So you used me.”
    “I didn’t use you, love. I needed your help and I asked for it. I even offered to compensate you for it with a generous donation for that library which is so dear to you.”
    “I see,” Serena said stiffly, wrapping her arms around herself. She felt chilled despite the roaring fireplace. “So what now? You’ll pick out one of my selections, memorize it for the wedding, and then be off to New York again to take up with a new socialite?”
    “Well…” He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it wildly. “Yes, I suppose that was the plan, though you make it sound awfully seedy. Please know that I truly appreciate the help you’ve given me, and the time we shared.”
    It shouldn’t have changed anything. She’d known from the start that Leo Strathairn wasn’t the kind of man she could keep, the kind of man who would stay by her side and experience the joys and sorrows of life with her. But now, on the heels of finding out he’d been lying—or at least omitting the truth—since she met him, Serena reached her limit.
    Grabbing her coat and hat from the rack by the inn door, Serena wound her scarf around her neck without meeting Leo’s gaze. “I have to go.”
    And then he was right next to her, his tightly muscled body crowding her against the door for a hot, thrilling moment before Serena could stomp down on her body’s stupid, instinctive reaction. She shoved past him and out into the cold, ignoring the strain in his voice as he called her name again.
    Running flat out in the direction of the marina, the pounding of her boots against the pavement echoed through the emptiness Leo’s words left behind. Every gasp of frozen air was a knife in her lungs, but she hardly felt the pain.
    All she felt was grief at the death of a dream she’d only dared to hold for such a short time. For the disappearance of the person she’d believed Leo to be. For the bright, happy, loving future she’d never get to taste.
    That future was never yours to begin with
, she reminded herself savagely as the lights of the harbor twinkled into view
. Love, passion, an honest relationship—those things aren’t for you. How many times do you have to be slapped down before you stop trying to reach for them?
    Panting, thighs shaking and feet aching, Serena skidded down the dock toward the waiting ferry. All but throwing money at the surprised ferry operator’s face, she hauled herself up the gangplank and headed for the spiral stairs to the top deck.
    “It’ll be freezing up there,” the grizzled old man warned. “You’ll catch your death of darned foolishness.”
    Serena tuned him out and climbed the stairs. She needed to feel the wind on her cheeks—and at this temperature, it was a good bet she’d be the only passenger on the exposed deck. A quick glance around the empty bench seats showed she was right. Tossing herself down on a bench that faced out toward the open water—toward home—Serena finally let herself catch her breath.
    Staring up at the matte velvet sky as snowflakes began to swirl down and dust the empty seats around her, Serena made herself a solemn promise.
    This was the last time. Never again
.

Chapter 7
    “You look like hell.” Miles slid into the straight-backed chair across from Leo, his appraising stare never leaving the younger man’s face.
    Leo suppressed a grimace. He could well imagine the story his face was telling his perceptive, eagle-eyed friend. “Bad night.”
    “You Brits have such a way with understatement.” The wry grin that touched Miles’s mouth didn’t hide the concern in his deep blue eyes. “What’s up? How can I help?”
    A lump of emotion knotted itself around Leo’s vocal cords. The unconditional, unquestioning support he got from Miles and his other friends from the club was a wholly new