Read Online Bennett (Bourbon & Blood #1) by Seraphina Donavan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Seraphina Donavan
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day.
As she approached her rental car, she felt the first stirring of awareness. With one sweeping glance of the parking lot, she easily identified the source of her disquiet. He stood on the other side of the street, leaning against his truck. Arms folded over his broad chest, the leather of his jacket stretched taut over heavily muscled arms and his long legs crossed at the ankle, that one look at him was enough to make her heart pound and the blood race in her veins.
There were other concerns though. He wouldn ’ t be there without a reason. For him to come to the distillery, to risk running into her father, there was a damn good reason. Opening her car door, she tossed her laptop bag and coat inside before locking it back up and crossing the street to him.
“ We need to talk, ” he said.
There was nothing that couldn ’ t be said right there, but that wouldn ’ t get her what she really wanted. A few precious, stolen moments wouldn ’ t hurt anyone, she reasoned.
“ So take me somewhere that we can, ” she replied.
He opened the passenger door for her. She climbed in without hesitation and he closed the door behind her. In climbing into that truck, going with him without question, Mia knew that the battle that had waged within her had been decided. Whatever came, whatever chance she had, it would always be him.
*~*~*
They drove west, heading out of town. It was a familiar route, one they had taken dozens of times when she ’ d been a teenager. Sneaking out of her house in the middle of the night, meeting him at the road and riding off into the night in the old Buick that his father had given him had been the greatest thrill of her life. Every time, she ’ d been breathless and giddy. She ’ d forgotten what it felt like to be that happy, to have that sense of anticipation.
They drove for several miles, neither of them saying a word, even as he hit the turn signal and turned off the highway. The road to the abandoned spring house was rutted from neglect and had become, over the years, more mud than gravel. The truck slowed as they rounded the bend and finally stopped altogether.
By rights, the building should have been falling in on itself. Looking at it, she saw that pieces of wood had been replaced here and there, the roof patched. Someone, and she had a sneaking suspicion who, had maintained it carefully. It was a bittersweet thought. “ I missed this place, ” she said softly.
“ I come here when I need to think, ” he said. There was a defensiveness in his tone that told her it was much more than that.
“ We all need a place for that, ” she replied. “ Why did you come, Bennett? ”
“ I needed to talk to you. I can ’ t call you. Can ’ t go to your house. Ambushing you at work is the only thing I could think of, ” he said simply.
Mia glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze was drawn to his large hands, draped casually on the steering wheel. They were callused and scarred and she wanted to feel them on her skin more than she wanted her next breath.
“ Generally speaking, when people say that, it ’ s bad, ” she replied. Her voice was thin, breathless.
Bennett turned toward her then, his face drawn, expression fierce. “ I saw them — the driver of the SUV. ”
That effectively doused her insta-lust. “ What? When did this happen? Where? ”
“ They were parked across the street from Revision today. When I spotted them, made a move toward them, they took off. ” He climbed out of the truck.
Mia waited as he walked around to open the door for her. It was a familiar ritual.
“ Why did you approach them? ” she demanded. “ That could have been dangerous! ”
“ I was hoping to get a look at them. Confront them. They ’ re not the only ones who are dangerous, ” he replied.
She left that alone. The cold fury in his tone was not something she ’ d ever heard from him. It didn ’ t mesh with the boy she ’ d once known. While that boy was still
As she approached her rental car, she felt the first stirring of awareness. With one sweeping glance of the parking lot, she easily identified the source of her disquiet. He stood on the other side of the street, leaning against his truck. Arms folded over his broad chest, the leather of his jacket stretched taut over heavily muscled arms and his long legs crossed at the ankle, that one look at him was enough to make her heart pound and the blood race in her veins.
There were other concerns though. He wouldn ’ t be there without a reason. For him to come to the distillery, to risk running into her father, there was a damn good reason. Opening her car door, she tossed her laptop bag and coat inside before locking it back up and crossing the street to him.
“ We need to talk, ” he said.
There was nothing that couldn ’ t be said right there, but that wouldn ’ t get her what she really wanted. A few precious, stolen moments wouldn ’ t hurt anyone, she reasoned.
“ So take me somewhere that we can, ” she replied.
He opened the passenger door for her. She climbed in without hesitation and he closed the door behind her. In climbing into that truck, going with him without question, Mia knew that the battle that had waged within her had been decided. Whatever came, whatever chance she had, it would always be him.
*~*~*
They drove west, heading out of town. It was a familiar route, one they had taken dozens of times when she ’ d been a teenager. Sneaking out of her house in the middle of the night, meeting him at the road and riding off into the night in the old Buick that his father had given him had been the greatest thrill of her life. Every time, she ’ d been breathless and giddy. She ’ d forgotten what it felt like to be that happy, to have that sense of anticipation.
They drove for several miles, neither of them saying a word, even as he hit the turn signal and turned off the highway. The road to the abandoned spring house was rutted from neglect and had become, over the years, more mud than gravel. The truck slowed as they rounded the bend and finally stopped altogether.
By rights, the building should have been falling in on itself. Looking at it, she saw that pieces of wood had been replaced here and there, the roof patched. Someone, and she had a sneaking suspicion who, had maintained it carefully. It was a bittersweet thought. “ I missed this place, ” she said softly.
“ I come here when I need to think, ” he said. There was a defensiveness in his tone that told her it was much more than that.
“ We all need a place for that, ” she replied. “ Why did you come, Bennett? ”
“ I needed to talk to you. I can ’ t call you. Can ’ t go to your house. Ambushing you at work is the only thing I could think of, ” he said simply.
Mia glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze was drawn to his large hands, draped casually on the steering wheel. They were callused and scarred and she wanted to feel them on her skin more than she wanted her next breath.
“ Generally speaking, when people say that, it ’ s bad, ” she replied. Her voice was thin, breathless.
Bennett turned toward her then, his face drawn, expression fierce. “ I saw them — the driver of the SUV. ”
That effectively doused her insta-lust. “ What? When did this happen? Where? ”
“ They were parked across the street from Revision today. When I spotted them, made a move toward them, they took off. ” He climbed out of the truck.
Mia waited as he walked around to open the door for her. It was a familiar ritual.
“ Why did you approach them? ” she demanded. “ That could have been dangerous! ”
“ I was hoping to get a look at them. Confront them. They ’ re not the only ones who are dangerous, ” he replied.
She left that alone. The cold fury in his tone was not something she ’ d ever heard from him. It didn ’ t mesh with the boy she ’ d once known. While that boy was still
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