Read Online Running by Calle J. Brookes - Free Book Online Page A

mouth. Poor kid,
he must have been starving her the way she was eating. “What did
you get?”
    “ A winter coat. Some soda
and chocolate for my queen. And a couple of burn phones. I’ll
charge and activate in a few.”
    “ I want to call home. Call
someone. Let them know I am not dead, and make sure they found
Carrie.”
    Seth suppressed a wince.
“Yeah. That probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. Hopefully when this is
finished Sebastian won’t rip my brains out through my eyebrows for
leaving her behind.”
    “ She’s
better off. She’s probably home in her nice warm loft instead of this drafty
flea bag motel.” She rubbed her arms through the sweatshirt. Seth
frowned. It was a
bit cold in the room. “There’s probably bedbugs…Bedbugs with
frostbite.”
    “ Hey, we can always cuddle
up together. Ward off the cold by creating our own body
heat.”
    Al looked at the man
responsible for all the trouble the last day had brought. “I don’t
do casual sex. So if that’s what you’re thinking, just forget
it.”
    “ A man can’t look at you
and not think sex. It’s just the way we’re made.”
    “ And I’m
made to want more than that. And not with a man like you.”
    “ What’s wrong with a man
like me? I’m clean, have my own teeth, and am reasonably successful
at my chosen career.”
    “ Yeah, and that’s why you
woke up in a trunk? You’re reckless, and I don’t do reckless,
either.”
    “ Sure you do. Didn’t you
get in the car with me? That was reckless. As was taking off and
leaving your pal behind. So don’t say you don’t take
chances.”
    “ Maybe I do, sometimes.
When the situation calls for it. But not in my personal life. Ever.
And I’m not about to start now.”

Chapter
Twenty
    ***
     
    Seth passed half the night
in the arm chair, listening to his companion’s soft breathing and
the sound of that bitch Mother Nature howling at the window.
Finally around three he said screw
it and stretched out on the bed. He’d keep
the blanket between him and little Miss Sensibility, if that’s what
it took to make her happy.
    His ego had taken a hit,
but he’d survive. He’d been turned down before. Right now he was
just too damned exhausted to care about her sensibilities. Besides,
they’d slept together before. What would it hurt again?
    They’d be up and on the
road by seven, anyway. And that was less than four hours away. Four
hours of decent sleep was better than eight of nothing.
    ***
    She woke him up three hours
later with a smack to his chest. He opened his eyes and stared at
the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and wanted to strangle her.
How did anyone wake up so perky in the morning?
    “ What time is
it?”
    “ Time to
get going. I take it you want to get to the fiancé’s house before
she leaves? If she’s even home. She wouldn’t have gone somewhere else after
the funeral, would she?”
    Nina. Shit. He’d forgotten
about her. “I don’t know.”
    “ I suggest you hurry, then.
Gainesville is less than two hours away. We can make it. And then
maybe we can finish this up and I can get back to my
life.”
    “ Didn’t know my presence
was weighing so heavily on you.”
    “ Sure you didn’t. Think I
want to spend forever with you?”
    “ Well, why not?”
    “ You snore. And you hog
both the covers and the center of the bed.”
    “ Better to keep you warm,
my dear.”
    “ Uh huh.” She yanked the
covers off of him, exposing him to the chill of the room. Cheap
motel equaled cheap heat.
    He grabbed her hand and
yanked her down on top of him. She actually cursed. That surprised
him—he hadn’t heard her utter a single curse since he’d met her.
Miss Goody Two Shoes. “Give me a kiss, toots.”
    “ That’s attractive. Morning
breath kisses from my kidnapper.”
    “ Partner . You made the choice at that
truck stop, remember. Now, pucker up.”
    ***
    He was an idiot. A
grinning, rumpled, and if she admitted it to herself, sexy idiot.
“I’m not going to kiss