Free Not Alone by Amber Nation Page A

the door passenger door for me. When they said chivalry was dead, they obviously hadn’t met Grady Finnegan. Before letting me get in, he tilted my chin up so I was looking him in the eyes, briefly touched his lips to mine, and said, “You look beautiful tonight, Emmalynne. I meant to tell you when you opened the door, but kissing you was my only priority at the time.”
     SWOON!
    Who was this man and why hadn’t someone snatched him up?
     
     

 
    Chapter Thirteen
     
    Emmalynne
     
    The trip to the Sheriff’s station didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Sheriff Mitchell made sure that all I had to do was write down my statement for the time being and he took pictures of the bruises on my arms. They were in the middle of working on getting a warrant issued for Corbin Montgomery, and then they were off to haul him in.
    Pulling up in front of a restaurant, I noticed that it was Magdalena’s, a little Italian place on the outskirts of town. They made killer fettuccine Alfredo and garlic bread sticks that were to die for, and they always went straight to my thighs.
    As he guided me through the restaurant, he placed his hand in the small of my back as the waitress lead us to our table. The restaurant was small, but the atmosphere was cozy and warm. Little square tables outfitted with a crisp, clean white tablecloth were scattered about along the floor and a lit candle was positioned in the middle of each one. Grady made sure to pull out my chair for me and waited until I was fully seated before sitting down himself.
    Conversation was light and flowed very easily as we waited for our entrees. The waiter came and refilled our waters before he sat down our orders. For me it was, of course, the fettuccine Alfredo, and for Grady, eggplant parmesan.
    I took my first bite, tasting the garlic and basil in the Alfredo sauce. I closed my eyes, and not realizing it, I let out a small groan. Opening my eyes, I noticed that Grady was staring at me, fork suspended in midair. His eyes reflected a look of pure hunger, but, if I were to guess it wasn’t for food. Wiggling in my seat, I started getting a bit antsy.
    “What?” I said, breaking the silence, trying to play it cool.
    “If you keep letting out those agonizingly sexy groans every time you take a bite, I’m going to rush you back to your house and fuck you senseless. And I know you aren’t ready for that…yet…” he said with a promising tone. I melted right then and there. Hello libido, nice of you to join me after several years in hiding.
    In all the years I was together with Bryce, not once did he ever make me feel anything close to what I just felt just a moment ago, and all Grady simply did was open his mouth and made a derogatory comment.
    The way he was looking at me now, you’d think that he was a starving man and I was his dessert. This was so completely out of my comfort zone as I was definitely not used to this type of behavior. That cocky gleam in his eye wasn’t a look I was all too familiar with, used towards me at least. The million dollar question: was I ready for the adventure Grady’s gleam suggested?
    Changing the subject, I asked, “So, how do you like Brown County so far?”
    “It’s a lot to get used to, and it’s almost a bit too quiet. I am finding that I am getting pretty partial to the people around here though,” he looked up and gave me a wink, giving me the understanding that he was referring to me. He continued, “I’m used to the hustle and bustle of New York. I was stationed at Fort Drum for the past three of my fourteen years in the Army,” mentally trying to calculate how old he might be, he said as if reading my thoughts, “I’m thirty-two. I enlisted in the Army once I graduated High School. I started off as Infantry before I became a Ranger. Then for the last seven years I was part of Special Forces.”
    So this meant he was one kickass force to be reckoned with. I knew that to be a part of Special Forces you had