Read Online Shelter for Elizabeth (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 5) by Susan Stoker - Free Book Online Page A

friends, wasn’t something she felt comfortable with. Talking to him over the Internet was different from hearing about his life from his own two lips.
    “I’m assuming you’re not working today?” Cade asked, letting go and leaning back into the corner of the couch.
    “No, I have the day off,” Beth told him, and settled herself into the other corner, curling her legs up underneath her. She was still a little shaky from everything that had happened, but surprisingly she was feeling pretty good, all things considered.
    “So, what do you want to know?”
    “Everything,” Beth replied immediately.
    “I think that’ll take too long,” Cade laughed. “Let’s see if I can’t condense it a bit. You know Penelope is my sister, she’s two years younger than me and we’ve always been close.”
    “No sibling rivalry?”
    “Not really. She tagged along behind me, and because she wasn’t a pain, it was cool. She was a huge tomboy and could actually outplay a lot of my friends growing up. We were both sad when I went off to high school and she was still in middle school.”
    “That’s unusual. My brother is three years older than me, and while we’re close now, he didn’t want anything to do with me when we were in school,” Beth observed.
    “I know. I’m not sure why, but we pushed each other to do better,” Cade told her, relaxing against the cushions, seemingly not embarrassed at all about his close relationship with his sister. “When I joined the track team, Penelope worked extra hard to make the varsity squad right along with me when she was a freshman. Instead of feeling like she was stifling me, I felt like she had my back, and I certainly had hers.”
    “I sense a story there.”
    “Observant little thing, aren’t you?”
    “I’m not little,” Beth protested.
    “No, you’re not. You’re perfect.” Not giving her a chance to disagree, Cade continued, “There was this chick I was hot for my senior year. All she had to do was smile at me and I would’ve done anything she asked. She didn’t really notice me until I became state champion at the end of my junior year. Come that August, she was all over me, and I was thrilled. I knew I was gonna get—excuse my language here—some hot pussy, and couldn’t wait to get in there.”
    Beth laughed, as Cade had meant her to. Watching her relax even more made him feel like he could scale mountains. If he could make Beth forget what had happened, even for a couple of minutes, it seemed like a huge hurdle he’d climbed.
    “Well, Penelope heard this chick and her buddies gossiping in the locker room one day. Apparently, they had some sort of sick bet going about who could get pregnant first. They’d decided that they wanted babies, and getting child support from the unlucky daddies was an added bonus. They had no desire to get married, but getting all the cute baby shit from family and friends and being able to tote their adorable babies around to get attention sounded like the perfect life plan to them.”
    Beth made a gagging noise in the back of her throat. “Seriously? I mean, I know I’m younger than you and all, but really? Most girls I knew in high school were doing everything they could to keep from getting knocked up. That sounds completely far-fetched.”
    “I agree. I didn’t believe it either. Who would? It was one of the worst fights me and Penelope ever had. She told me what she’d overheard and I didn’t want to listen to her. I was too caught up in trying to get some.”
    “Darn teenage hormones.”
    “Exactly.”
    “So, what happened? I’m assuming there’s not a teenage Cade running around in the world?”
    “Hell no. I stopped to really think about it for a second. Penelope wasn’t the sort to lie to me. I continued to flirt with this chick, but eventually the fact that I wasn’t coming to heel soon enough for her made her look elsewhere. She wanted to win the bet and be the first to get pregnant, and since I was