Read Online Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender by Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, Karin Tabke - Free Book Online

she’d done it too. They were staring at her like she’d somehow betrayed them. Like she’d used them.
    Disappointment was so keen that it nearly buckled her knees. Then she steeled herself because she wouldn’t let them know how much it hurt for them to look through her the way they were doing.
    “I didn’t do it,” she said quietly. “Please believe me.”
    Something flickered in Rick ’s eyes. He hesitated and looked ... torn. Did he want to believe her? She couldn’t tell. He was so hard to read. She wanted to see doubt in his eyes, and maybe it was there, but how could she know it wasn’t just wishful thinking?
    “Why were you gone so long, Jessie?” Truitt asked. “You said you were at the pub no longer than ten minutes. The timeline doesn’t add up. Give us something to work with here. Tell us what happened so we can help you.”
    She stared at them, growing more numb by the minute. “I was at the store buying stuff to make you breakfast.”
    No longer able to stand their scrutiny, or the idea that they entertained that she could do this, even for a moment, she turned sideways to brush between them and walked down the hall, slowly at first but with growing speed. She heard one of them call her name, but she refused to turn around. They’d see how utterly devastated she was.
    She burst out of the doors and took off down the street, no clear direction in mind, only that she wasn’t spending another minute in such a hostile environment. God, they all thought she’d killed another person in cold blood. They were crazy but the frightening part was just how serious they were and it scared her to death.
    Whatever happened to how sweet they thought she was? And how nice and cute and beautiful. Blah, blah, blah. It made her head hurt to know just how stupid she felt right now.
    Three blocks from the police station, she dug out her cell phone and sank onto the sidewalk, drawing her knees to her chest as she clumsily punched in the phone number.
    “Please, please be there,” she whispered.
    “Hello?”
    “Kirsten, thank God. It’s Jessie.”
    “Jessie? Hon, are you okay? You sound like you’re crying. What’s going on?”
    Jessie wiped angrily at the tear trickling down her cheek and tried to work the knot out of her throat.
    “I need you to come get me,” she said in a shaky voice.

Chapter 7
     
    W ant me to go kick them all in the balls?” Kirsten asked with a scowl.
    Jessie closed her eyes, cupped her hands around the warm mug of coffee, and inhaled the aroma. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop the shaking. Her arms shook, her hands shook, even her teeth kept clanking together to make the most annoying sound.
    She opened her eyes when Kirsten gently took the coffee from her and set it on the table in front of the couch.
    “You’re going to spill that all over you, hon. You’re still shaking like a leaf.”
    “Thanks for coming,” Jessie said because she didn’t know what else to say. She was so grateful that Kirsten had come immediately and had brought her back to her apartment. The idea of going back to her place alone knotted her stomach.
    “Stop thanking me. What are friends for?”
    Jessie’s eyes went watery again. “You’re the best friend I could ask for. You’ve had my back since sixth grade.”
    “Damn straight. And you’ve had mine.”
    Kirsten was a beautiful woman and she had a warm smile that just drew people to her. She was only slightly taller than Jessie but thinner by far. She was lanky, had a jean size that made Jessie green with envy, and she moved with a grace that made people stop and watch her go by.
    She had long, straight auburn hair that in the sunlight reflected about six different shades. And she had the bluest eyes, light and clear. Mesmerizing to look at.
    “You didn’t answer my question. Should I go down there and kick their asses?”
    Jessie smiled. Or tried to. “No. I’m the dumbass in this. I never should have gone home with Rick