Read Online Don't Look Back by Lynette Eason - Free Book Online Page A

label. He must remember to get it refilled. Maybe. Actually, he’d been doing pretty well without it.
    The bottle itself was a reminder. He had to keep it together, keep up the façade, or everyone would know. And they must not know.
    His mind went back to Jamie. He’d honored her and her request, and she’d not responded in kind and honored him. She’d fought death. Had lived and gone on without him. How dare she? After he’d rescued her? Become her hero? Did his best to make the pain go away?
    The rage built and he threw the book across the room. The pictures scattered and one fluttered next to his shoe. He bent and picked it up.
    And knew what he was supposed to do.

8
    Jamie slipped the new key into the shiny lock of her front door and turned to her bodyguard. “You didn’t have to walk me home, Dakota.”
    “I know. I wanted to.” He leaned in a little. “I like spending time with you, Jamie.”
    She pulled back, her heart in her throat. “Don’t . . . don’t like it too much, okay?”
    “Jamie . . .” He threw a hand up. “When will you trust me? We’ve known each other over a year and a half and you still hold me at arm’s length. When are you going to let me in? Just a little?”
    She knew he wasn’t talking about her front door.
    A long pause followed his outburst. What should she say? What could she say?
    “I told you . . . I warned you . . .” She bit her lip, wanting to cry – and punch him – all at the same time.
    “I’m not playing games, Jamie, I care about you – a lot.”
    “And I care about you. As a friend. Okay, more than a friend, but not . . . I don’t know if I can do more than friend. I honestly just . . . don’t know.” Keeping her tone neutral was hard. Almost impossible. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and be normal, like any other thirty-year-old single girl looking to meet someone, fall in love, and get married.
    But she wasn’t normal.
    Thanks to him .
    “Then let’s find out.”
    She pushed the door open and stepped inside. “What do you mean?”
    He followed her in and shut the door behind him. “I don’t know. I just . . . I . . .” He let out a frustrated sigh. “Hold that thought. Let’s do a walk-through of your house and you tell me if anything looks out of place.”
    Pivoting on her heel, she let her eyes scan the room, then she walked into the kitchen. Nothing weird here. She followed him through the two bedrooms and the bath she’d had enlarged and turned into a small spa.
    “Everything seems fine,” she reported. Thank goodness. A chill spilled onto her arms, causing goosebumps to pop up. Bumps that had nothing to do with the air conditioner. Could she get Dakota out of her house before he went down a path she wasn’t ready to explore yet?
    “Good, now back to what we were talking about.”
    Nope, he was determined.
    She cocked her head as she walked back into the foyer and set her keys on the side table next to the front door. “You want more.”
    He flushed and stuck his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Yeah. I do.”
    “I think I wish you didn’t.”
    He froze. Then looked at the ceiling. “Why?”
    “Because . . . I . . . don’t know what to do with that.”
    “You don’t know or you’re scared to find out?”
    This time it was her turn to go red. She turned and headed into the kitchen. Dakota followed at a slower pace. Jamie pulled a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator. She handed him one as she considered his very valid question. “I think it’s a little of both.”
    “Look, Jamie, I know something horrific happened to you. That you were attacked. I understand he hurt you – ”
    She whirled, cutting him off, the anger rising up like a tsunami. But her voice was barely above a whisper. “ Hurt me? You think he hurt me? He didn’t hurt me. He raped me, then he tortured me, then he made me pick which way I wanted to die. Like I was picking out a car. Only instead of the choice between blue