Read Online FEARLESS by Helen Kay Dimon - Free Book Online

was the insurmountable problem. When she’d needed him, lying in that hospital bed crying for him, he’d been across the country saving someone else’s fiancée.
    “That’s not true, Lara.” All the amusement and laziness left Pax’s voice. “I was there. I saw what losing you did to him.”
    “I lived it, Pax.” Pain swirled around her until she thought it would suck her down. She tightened her hold on the deck railing to keep from going under.
    The silence stretched longer this time. She noticed for the first time that the radio played in the kitchen area.
    She was about to break the tension when Pax spoke again. “Did he tell you about his last job?”
    The question surprised her. Her mind went to the discolored skin around Davis’s middle and the way he grimaced when he lifted his arm too high. “You mean the rib injury?”
    “I mean the reason for it.”
    This was new. Pax rarely did an end run around his big brother. They were two years apart and had lived through being abandoned and passed around to relatives who only cared when they received a check from the state for the boys’ care. The dysfunctional upbringing and fighting to survive bound them together.
    Their past also had forced Davis into a fatherly role before he’d hit his teens. Over time the relationship morphed to a more mutual one, likely because they’d worked together for most of their adult lives. It was a bond that grew out of respect and love, and neither brother tested it. But she sensed Pax was pushing the boundary by dropping hints about something he wanted her to know.
    Picking her words carefully, she asked, “What are you trying to tell me by not telling me something?”
    “That’s quite a sentence.”
    Just like his brother. “Answer the question.”
    Pax’s crooked smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I thought I was being subtle.”
    “There is nothing subtle about the Weeks boys.”
    He winked at her. “On that note, I’m going to head out.”
    She grabbed his arm before he could move an inch. “Without giving me an explanation?”
    “Don’t give me that look. It says you are right on the edge of unloading on me, and I don’t want any part of that.”
    “Then don’t evade.”
    “We both know you’re talking to the wrong brother.” Pax called a goodbye to Davis then hit the ladder, but not before calling over his shoulder to her. “Good night.”
    * * *
    D AVIS WAITED UNTIL Pax left...then waited another ten minutes. He wasn’t a man accustomed to hanging around. Outside of work, patience wasn’t any kind of virtue that he could see.
    Despite the uncharacteristic pacing, Lara’s head never peeked below to say hi. Even now he could look out the opening to the deck and see her sitting curled up on the back bench with her arms wrapped around her legs. Her cheek rested on her knees, and her head was turned to face the other boats in the row.
    Enough with the hiding. He got the message. Hands off. If only his body would obey the order from his head.
    He stepped out onto the deck, letting his sneakers thump against the floor so as not to scare her. “What are you doing out here?”
    She didn’t even move. “Getting some fresh air.”
    “It’s sticky as hell.” Though he doubted she felt it in that tiny shirt.
    “I’m fine.”
    He exhaled, but the growing case of male indignation was lost on her when she continued to stare out over the water. He dropped down on the other side of the bench with his thigh touching hers. A rush of relief poured through him when she didn’t pull away.
    “I can control myself, you know.” The words were barely true, but he wasn’t an animal. He’d never forced a woman in his life, nor would he.
    The idea she didn’t want him as much as he wanted her was like a sucker punch to the gut, but living without her was something he had been doing for months now. He could manage that and still keep her safe.
    She slowly turned to face him. “What did you say?”
    “That’s what