Read Online Demand by Lisa Renée Jones - Free Book Online

connected,” I whisper. These three events are connected. One dot, two dots, three dots. Tha t ’ s why I’m remembering them together. The y ’ re connected—but how? It makes no sense.
    â€œElla. Sweetheart.”
    I blink again and see Kayden, and I’m sitting in the corner of the shower, with no memory of how I got there, and he’s kneeling in front of me.
    â€œAre you okay?” he asks. “Let’s get you out of here.”
    â€œDavid’s dead,” I say. “Did you know that?” I don’t give him a chance to answer. “But before he died, he lay there in his own blood and told me not to give ‘ him ’ the necklace.” My eyes meet Kayden’s. “Was he talking about you?”

five

    K ayden’s hands come down on my arms and he stands, taking me with him. “Let’s get you out of the shower.” He reaches over and turns off the water.
    â€œThat’s not a no , Kayden. Was David talking about you?”
    â€œI had no idea David was dead,” he says, wrapping his arm around me and urging me out of the shower.
    â€œThat’s still not an answer,” I say, grabbing a towel and knotting it at my chest. “ Was he talking about you?”
    â€œThat’s a complicated question, which I will answer. But here’s how this is going to happen. We’re going to get some clothes on and I’m going to make a pot of coffee. Then we’ll sit at the kitchen table and have a past-due talk.”
    â€œJust tell me now and get it over with.”
    â€œLike I said, you asked a complicated question that has a complicated answer. And while we’re both naked, and emotions are high—”
    â€œI’m calm and rational.”
    â€œYou are always remarkably calm and rational. Two of the many things I love about you, Ella. But you’re wet, cold, and exhausted, not to mention affected by losing Enzo. Although this is the wrong time for this conversation, we need to have it—but my way. And that means that I’m going to get dressed and get that coffee going. You take time to dry your hair, and I’ll be waiting when you’re ready.” He steps around me and heads for the closet.
    He’s right. We need to have this conversation in the kitchen. I grab another towel and partially dry my hair. It’s then that Kayden reenters the bathroom, wearing gray sweats, running shoes, and a white T-shirt stretched over his broad, muscled chest. His light brown hair lies in damp tendrils framing his handsome face.
    He doesn’t immediately touch me, and despite every reason I have to doubt him right now, I want him to. “I need you to be the man I think you are.”
    â€œI have been completely honest with you about who and what I am. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re ready. Don’t feel rushed.”
    â€œNo problem there,” I say, a knot forming in my belly. “I suddenly seem to have gone from demanding answers to not being sure I’m ready for them.”
    â€œI understand,” he says, caressing my cheek with two fingers, my skin tingling beneath his touch. “If I didn’t,” he adds, letting his touch fall away, “we would have had this conversation the first time you told me about the necklace.” He starts to step around me, but stops, and his hands go to the sides of my breasts as he kisses me firmly on the mouth. And then he is gone, leaving me aching for his touch and praying for answers I can live with.
    I do not turn to watch his departure, but instead find myself replaying something he said. “I didn’t know David was dead.” Does that mean he knew David? That’s a bad thought I dismiss. He’d been upset over David, almost jealous.
    Whatever the case, I’m suddenly over the dread that made me linger in the bathroom. I go to the closet and pull on black sweats and a black tank top, then shove my feet