Cross
of treatments nine years ago, dying a slow, painful death. She’d taken every treatment her doctors had recommended in the hopes of a miracle, and died regardless, stripped of her dignity along with everything else.
Was the hell really worth it? The side-effects from the chemo decreased what quality of life she had left, so should she bother? It hadn’t done her mother any good. If it merely bought her time and prolonged her agony, she’d just as soon quit now.
The dancing flames soothed her a bit, but couldn’t ease the deep anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Some of it was because of the cancer, but mostly because Luke was due back soon. How sad that she dreaded seeing him again. He’d been her whole world once. Her best friend and her white knight.
The first time she’d met him he’d saved her.
Staring into the flames, she thought about the night that changed her life forever. After a frantic call from the sister she was estranged from, she’d gone to pick her up at a bar in town. To rescue her from her abusive alcoholic boyfriend for the umpteenth time. Emily could almost feel the muggy air on her skin as she closed her eyes and let her mind drift back in time to that humid August night.
She still remembered the shock of the hot pavement when the boyfriend had thrown her to the ground in the bar parking lot. She’d brought her hands up to shield her face, bracing to have her teeth and nose broken as he towered over her with a drawn back fist. But the blow never landed.
Coming out of nowhere, Luke had put him into a headlock. And when she’d looked up into his fathomless eyes that first time, something deep inside her had stilled.
“Go on inside,” he told her in a quiet drawl, as though wrestling a man six inches taller and thirty 52
Absolution
pounds heavier was no more bothersome than restraining a child in the throes of a tantrum.
When he came into the bar later he strode right over to her, his dark gaze scanning her face, and she felt its touch all over her body. “You all right, ma’am?” He handed her the purse she’d dropped in the parking lot.
“Y-yes.” She swallowed, gathering her thoughts.
“Thank you so much.”
“Nothing to thank me for. I’m just glad I got there in time.”
He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life. And those eyes of his, so deep and mysterious. Mesmerizing. He smiled, and the warmth lit up the coffee-colored depths of his eyes and revealed a hint of straight white teeth. “I’m Luke,” he said, offering his hand.
She glanced down at it, so strong and dark compared to her own, and when she touched him she almost gasped at the heat of his skin. But instead of releasing her, he kept his hand wrapped around hers.
His smile widened.
“And you are?” he prompted.
Her face went red. “Emily.” Standing there staring at him, she might as well have been struck by lightning.
Luke turned her hand over, his eyes taking in the road rash on her forearm from when Karen’s boyfriend had thrown her onto the pavement. “We should get you some ice.”
She must have nodded, because he set a protective hand against the small of her back and escorted her to an empty table. Her eyes followed his every step as he walked away, admiring the width of his shoulders and the play of muscle across his back beneath his shirt. She was stunned by her reaction.
She wasn’t like this, didn’t respond to men this way.
But Luke was...magnetic.
53
Kaylea Cross
He came straight back with a glass of chilled water and a bag filled with ice. He wrapped the bag in a bar towel and took her arm in his big hands, his care of her and the warmth of his touch setting off flutters deep in her belly. She cleared her throat.
“Thank you again, for stepping in like that.”
“It was nothing.”
“I can’t imagine what you must think of me, with that as a first impression.”
“I think you’re very brave.”
Emily glanced down at her water.
of treatments nine years ago, dying a slow, painful death. She’d taken every treatment her doctors had recommended in the hopes of a miracle, and died regardless, stripped of her dignity along with everything else.
Was the hell really worth it? The side-effects from the chemo decreased what quality of life she had left, so should she bother? It hadn’t done her mother any good. If it merely bought her time and prolonged her agony, she’d just as soon quit now.
The dancing flames soothed her a bit, but couldn’t ease the deep anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Some of it was because of the cancer, but mostly because Luke was due back soon. How sad that she dreaded seeing him again. He’d been her whole world once. Her best friend and her white knight.
The first time she’d met him he’d saved her.
Staring into the flames, she thought about the night that changed her life forever. After a frantic call from the sister she was estranged from, she’d gone to pick her up at a bar in town. To rescue her from her abusive alcoholic boyfriend for the umpteenth time. Emily could almost feel the muggy air on her skin as she closed her eyes and let her mind drift back in time to that humid August night.
She still remembered the shock of the hot pavement when the boyfriend had thrown her to the ground in the bar parking lot. She’d brought her hands up to shield her face, bracing to have her teeth and nose broken as he towered over her with a drawn back fist. But the blow never landed.
Coming out of nowhere, Luke had put him into a headlock. And when she’d looked up into his fathomless eyes that first time, something deep inside her had stilled.
“Go on inside,” he told her in a quiet drawl, as though wrestling a man six inches taller and thirty 52
Absolution
pounds heavier was no more bothersome than restraining a child in the throes of a tantrum.
When he came into the bar later he strode right over to her, his dark gaze scanning her face, and she felt its touch all over her body. “You all right, ma’am?” He handed her the purse she’d dropped in the parking lot.
“Y-yes.” She swallowed, gathering her thoughts.
“Thank you so much.”
“Nothing to thank me for. I’m just glad I got there in time.”
He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life. And those eyes of his, so deep and mysterious. Mesmerizing. He smiled, and the warmth lit up the coffee-colored depths of his eyes and revealed a hint of straight white teeth. “I’m Luke,” he said, offering his hand.
She glanced down at it, so strong and dark compared to her own, and when she touched him she almost gasped at the heat of his skin. But instead of releasing her, he kept his hand wrapped around hers.
His smile widened.
“And you are?” he prompted.
Her face went red. “Emily.” Standing there staring at him, she might as well have been struck by lightning.
Luke turned her hand over, his eyes taking in the road rash on her forearm from when Karen’s boyfriend had thrown her onto the pavement. “We should get you some ice.”
She must have nodded, because he set a protective hand against the small of her back and escorted her to an empty table. Her eyes followed his every step as he walked away, admiring the width of his shoulders and the play of muscle across his back beneath his shirt. She was stunned by her reaction.
She wasn’t like this, didn’t respond to men this way.
But Luke was...magnetic.
53
Kaylea Cross
He came straight back with a glass of chilled water and a bag filled with ice. He wrapped the bag in a bar towel and took her arm in his big hands, his care of her and the warmth of his touch setting off flutters deep in her belly. She cleared her throat.
“Thank you again, for stepping in like that.”
“It was nothing.”
“I can’t imagine what you must think of me, with that as a first impression.”
“I think you’re very brave.”
Emily glanced down at her water.
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