Read Online Return to Me by Christy Reece - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christy Reece
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going to be here working day and night, I need to let my friends think I’m out of town. The last thing I want to do is get them involved or hurt.”
“No one is going to get hurt.”
“It’ll still be easier if they believe I’m headed to my parents’ for a visit. I’ll take care of that.”
Noah nodded. He should have thought about that. Having her friends around would certainly put a wrench in their plans. “Samara, there’s something else.” Her
what now
expression had him biting back another smile. “You know not to mention my name or anything about me, right?”
“Yes, Jordan had this conversation with me when he was barely conscious in the hospital.”
“Good. Now, do you want a sloppy joe?”
A delicate shudder. “No thanks. I stopped for something before coming home.”
“I guess we’re ready to get started.”
Noah watched her pad barefoot into the kitchen, her enticing bottom twitching with a sexy femininity he swore he would ignore but didn’t keep himself from appreciating. He might never have a normal kind of life, but it didn’t mean he didn’t have a normal male appreciation for a fine female form. Samara’s form was most definitely in that category.
She returned with two bottles of water. Handing him one, she took a long swallow of hers and then sat down at the desk. “Okay, let’s get started.”
They began with going into each chat room and checking to see who might be there. After checking, Samara watched Noah type in a brief message.
Hi, my name is Carly. I live in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m sixteen. Like to swim, hang at the mall and write poetry. Anybody out there want to talk tonight?
After the fifth time without much more than a “Hi, nice to see you here,” Samara started to see that this was going to take more time than she’d originally thought. Not that she thought they’d go online for the first day and find the predator, but trolling through all the chat rooms one by one was beginning to look like the “needle in a haystack” analogy she’d always hated … mostly because she’d never heard it applied to anything good.
She cut her eyes over to Noah. He looked exhausted. His normally swarthy darkness now paler, shadows made half-circle sweeps under his eyes. The lines around his mouth made him seem older, grimmer. It was seven hours later in Paris. “When’s the last time you slept?”
Typing another message into yet another chat room, he grunted out an unintelligible sound.
“Excuse me, didn’t quite get that.”
Noah pulled his eyes from the screen, blinking rapidly as if to clear them. His too-perfect mouth lifted into a slight smile. “What day is it?”
Ignoring the heart flip his smile always evoked, she concentrated on his words. “So, basically days?”
He shrugged and returned his gazed to the screen. “At least two.”
That did it. Samara stood and stretched. “Then let’s call it a night.”
His eyes back on the screen, he shook his head. “You go on. I can—”
“We’re not getting anywhere.” She squinted a look at her wall clock. “It’s after two in the morning. If he were on tonight, he would’ve already replied.”
Noah blew out a long sigh, his face grim. She knew he would have liked to make contact the first night, but making a hit the first time out wasn’t reasonable … even she knew that. Noah was so determined though, he probably thought he could have made it happen by will alone.
For the first time since she’d seen him again, Samara’s heart softened for this man. He might be a jerk of the first order and arrogant to boot, but what he did, saving victims all over the world, was phenomenal. What had brought him to create Last Chance Rescue?
As he shut down his computer, she suddenly found herself wishing there was something she could say or do to make him look less grim. Stupid? Absolutely. The man had done little since she’d seen him again but insult her and piss her off. Why the hell she should
“No one is going to get hurt.”
“It’ll still be easier if they believe I’m headed to my parents’ for a visit. I’ll take care of that.”
Noah nodded. He should have thought about that. Having her friends around would certainly put a wrench in their plans. “Samara, there’s something else.” Her
what now
expression had him biting back another smile. “You know not to mention my name or anything about me, right?”
“Yes, Jordan had this conversation with me when he was barely conscious in the hospital.”
“Good. Now, do you want a sloppy joe?”
A delicate shudder. “No thanks. I stopped for something before coming home.”
“I guess we’re ready to get started.”
Noah watched her pad barefoot into the kitchen, her enticing bottom twitching with a sexy femininity he swore he would ignore but didn’t keep himself from appreciating. He might never have a normal kind of life, but it didn’t mean he didn’t have a normal male appreciation for a fine female form. Samara’s form was most definitely in that category.
She returned with two bottles of water. Handing him one, she took a long swallow of hers and then sat down at the desk. “Okay, let’s get started.”
They began with going into each chat room and checking to see who might be there. After checking, Samara watched Noah type in a brief message.
Hi, my name is Carly. I live in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m sixteen. Like to swim, hang at the mall and write poetry. Anybody out there want to talk tonight?
After the fifth time without much more than a “Hi, nice to see you here,” Samara started to see that this was going to take more time than she’d originally thought. Not that she thought they’d go online for the first day and find the predator, but trolling through all the chat rooms one by one was beginning to look like the “needle in a haystack” analogy she’d always hated … mostly because she’d never heard it applied to anything good.
She cut her eyes over to Noah. He looked exhausted. His normally swarthy darkness now paler, shadows made half-circle sweeps under his eyes. The lines around his mouth made him seem older, grimmer. It was seven hours later in Paris. “When’s the last time you slept?”
Typing another message into yet another chat room, he grunted out an unintelligible sound.
“Excuse me, didn’t quite get that.”
Noah pulled his eyes from the screen, blinking rapidly as if to clear them. His too-perfect mouth lifted into a slight smile. “What day is it?”
Ignoring the heart flip his smile always evoked, she concentrated on his words. “So, basically days?”
He shrugged and returned his gazed to the screen. “At least two.”
That did it. Samara stood and stretched. “Then let’s call it a night.”
His eyes back on the screen, he shook his head. “You go on. I can—”
“We’re not getting anywhere.” She squinted a look at her wall clock. “It’s after two in the morning. If he were on tonight, he would’ve already replied.”
Noah blew out a long sigh, his face grim. She knew he would have liked to make contact the first night, but making a hit the first time out wasn’t reasonable … even she knew that. Noah was so determined though, he probably thought he could have made it happen by will alone.
For the first time since she’d seen him again, Samara’s heart softened for this man. He might be a jerk of the first order and arrogant to boot, but what he did, saving victims all over the world, was phenomenal. What had brought him to create Last Chance Rescue?
As he shut down his computer, she suddenly found herself wishing there was something she could say or do to make him look less grim. Stupid? Absolutely. The man had done little since she’d seen him again but insult her and piss her off. Why the hell she should
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