Read Online Cook County: Lucky in Love by Crystal-Rain Love - Free Book Online Page B

his forehead. “I never threw you away. You threw yourself at me and didn’t even tell me it was your first time. And you weren’t mine. We were never in a relationship.”
    “Well, excuse me . I’m sorry if I don’t know the proper verbiage to use in these situations, but I’m new to the whole hook-up scene.” Cammie’s breath hitched.
    “Which is exactly why it shouldn’t have happened,” Lucky explained, wishing he had alcohol to chase away the guilt slowly suffocating him. “You’re not one-night-stand material. You’re better than that. You’re too good to sink to my level.”
    Cammie’s foot came down hard on the brake. The truck swerved before screeching to a stop along the side of the road.
    “What the hell?” Lucky surveyed the road. They were the only ones on it, no animal had shot out before them, nothing had spooked her.
    “Stop it.” Cammie took off her seatbelt and turned to face him dead on. “Stop acting like you’re so bad that no woman could ever love you. Stop infecting yourself with alcohol and bad choices just because you want to wallow in self-pity.”
    “Now, wait a minute,” Lucky quickly interjected as his temperature rose. “I’m not some whiny cry—”
    “Well, you’ve certainly been sounding like one. Everyone deserves to be loved and cared for. Quit denying yourself the chance to have something really great.”
    “I ruin everything I touch!” Lucky shouted. “What part of that do you not get?”
    “The part where you believe in that foolishness,” Cammie answered. “You touched me, Lucky, and you didn’t ruin me.”
    He shook his head. “Yes, I did. You were a virgin. That shouldn’t have been wasted with a guy like me. That should have been with a guy you were in a real relationship with.”
    “But you aren’t that guy because you don’t think I’m good enough for you.”
    “What?” Lucky felt his jaw drop as he stared at her. “Why would you think that? You’re smart, beautiful, and a good woman. Any man would be honored to have you.”
    Water filled her eyes, but she blinked it back. “Then why did you throw me away after I gave myself to you?”
    He swallowed hard as regret stuck in his throat. “I didn’t deserve the honor. I don’t want to hurt you, Cam.”
    “Don’t you see that all you’ve been doing by staying away is hurting me? I chose you, Lucky. You!” She grabbed his face with both hands and captured his eyes. “You are a good person despite all the hurdles life has thrown you. Let me show you.”
    Lucky stared into her hazel eyes and felt his heart hammering so hard he feared it would burst right out of his chest. Fear and excitement mixed together until his head rushed with dizziness. He prayed there really was something good in him that this woman could find, but feared she was in for a major disappointment. Images of Sylvia Case and his mother flashed through his mind, and he imagined Cammie’s brownish-green eyes, so full of life, staring back at him with the same glaze of death those women had worn the last time he’d seen them. Those women were weak, and he had been useless in helping them.
    “My own mother didn’t want me, Cammie. No woman has really loved me. I’m just a one-nighter, it’s all I know how to do. I don’t know how to give you what you’re asking for.”
    A hesitant smile spread across her pretty pink lips. “I’ll teach you,” she whispered as she leaned in and covered his mouth with her own. She took her time, savoring the taste of him before pulling back. “Your first lesson will be tomorrow night. A real first date. That is, if you really want to try.”
    She bit her lip, searching his eyes for hesitation as she awaited his response.

Chapter Seven
    Cammie ran the brush through her chocolate brown hair for the twentieth time, her stomach in knots as she checked herself over in the bathroom mirror, making sure there wasn’t anything amiss anywhere. Lucky would be arriving soon for their