Read Online Gotcha! by Christie Craig - Free Book Online

cocky, so bold, that he would really try to deceive her ex-husband into believing that—?
    Oh, heck, she didn’t have time to admire or be grateful to the cop right now. She refocused on Tom.
    “How did you hear about Billy?” She worked at keeping her tone casual, because she was just a bit touched that her ex-husband was worried about her. Not enough to accept his offer of company, of course. His shoulder to cry on would no doubt come with a price. A flat price—as in, she’d be flat on her back. She’d heard that his fling had flung itself out.
    “Your grandma’s neighbor called my mom. When I got the message, I knew you’d be upset, so I came to—”
    “I appreciate your concern.” A tiny part of her did. Then again, she would have appreciated a lot more his not having had an affair with his secretary, and especially not in her own bed. “But we’re divorced. You should go.”
    “You’re really seeing that clown?” he seethed.
    She shrugged, not willing to lie. “What? You don’t like his sense of humor?”
    “I suppose you do. My God, we’ve only been divorced a few weeks!”
    His words landed with a bruising bump on her heart—a heart that had suffered too many blows today. Too many blows in the last five years, mostly thanks to Tom himself.
    “We’d have been divorced almost two years ago if you’d signed the papers.”
    He took a step forward. “Don’t be hardheaded. Tell the guy to leave. I’ll fix you some hot chocolate, just the way you like it.” He opened his arms as if he expected her to melt into his embrace and rejoice because he remembered her culinary dependency.
    She didn’t move into his arms. The hot chocolate sounded good, but Tom’s embrace didn’t tempt her. Not even a smidgen. That felt pretty damn good, too.
    He puffed out his chest. “Come on Macy, it’s him or me.”
    That clinched it. “Him.”
    “You would choose—?”
    “Definitely.” Her gut had always told her Tom was an idiot, and now she knew for sure. She pointed to the door. “You need to go.”
    His green eyes widened. “You’re obviously upset. You’re not thinking clearly.”
    “You’re right about me being upset. I’m worried about my brother. As for thinking…?” She pushed a finger to her temple. “Seems pretty clear.” She opened the front door. “ ’Bye, Tom.”
    He didn’t budge. She could tell from his expression that he was struggling to find a new approach. That did a little something for her ego. Other than doing everything he could to delay the divorce, he hadn’t once seemed to regret their split. But why now?
    The answer hit her: Baldwin. Tom didn’t want her. Not permanently. But he didn’t want anyone else to have her, either. Especially when he didn’t have anyone. The dog.
    It still felt good. What woman didn’t want a man to regret his mistakes?
    She spotted the red blinking light on her answering machine. “Door’s open,” she said. “Good-bye.”
    “Look,” he begged. “I was wrong to get involved with Tammy, but I said I was sorry.”
    His words brought back her anger. “No, what you said was, ‘Can’t we just forget about this?’ And I recall telling you that I would do that just as soon as hell turned into a snowy winter wonderland that Santa lists among his top ten favorite places to visit.” Macy thought she heard a chuckle from the hall.
    “Okay, it’s obvious we need to talk.” Tom’s gaze darkened with anger. “Ask the bozo to leave.” He grabbed her.
    She stared at his hand on her arm. “Let me go!” Tom had never hit her, but he had a bad habit of being grabby. She wasn’t his to grab anymore. One glance at his crotch, and she locked in on her target.
    She didn’t get a chance to strike. Baldwin came hotfooting it into the foyer and tucked her to his side. “That’s it,” he said.
    Normally, Macy would have resented the implication that she couldn’t take care of herself, but the resentment didn’t come. The policeman’s