Read Online The Fire Still Burns by Crystal-Rain Love - Free Book Online Page B

Cal.
    So why had she done it?  Was it curiosity?  Could she really have been that shallow?  Adam shook his head, at a loss for answers.  For years he'd wondered, even made up excuses.  Maybe he’d done something to make her furious, hurt her somehow and she'd wanted revenge.  Or maybe she always had been a conniving tramp and he'd just played the fool.
    But deep inside, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he knew it couldn't be that.  Adam had been her first, and she had loved him.  He knew that for a fact.  He just didn't know when or why it had gone so terribly wrong.
    “They're beautiful.”
    “What?”  Adam turned toward Brynn, registering her voice nearing him.  She stopped at his side, her head tilted back as she stared at the star-studded sky looming over them.  Her hair blew gently in the wind, exposing her neck to his gaze.  Long, milky-white and sleek.  He quickly jerked his head away, retraining his gaze on the night sky before he gave in to the temptation to kiss that neck, smell those soft wisps of hair dancing in the breeze, begging for his touch.
    “The stars,” she clarified.  “You can't see them in the city because of all the pollution.  I'd almost forgotten how beautiful they are.”
    “I suppose,” he murmured, not wanting to talk about things which were more beautiful than remembered.  “Did you get all the answers you wanted, but didn't need?”
    “I'm not your enemy, Adam.  I'm helping you to find the truth.”  She stopped her perusal of the sky to focus her narrowed gaze on him.  “Or is that what scares you?”
    “My brother isn't some lowlife, Brynn.  You know he isn't, so why the hell do you keep acting like he is?  You knew him.”
    “If you'd quit focusing so hard on protecting your brother's name we might actually be able to make some progress in this case.”
    “What did that scumbag tell you in there?”  He shoved his hands into his pockets instead of using them to grab Brynn by the arms and shake her.
    She didn't answer.  Instead, she narrowed her gaze and shook her head while making a show of reaching into her pocket for her keys.  “I've got a busy day tomorrow.  Do me a favor and don’t destroy any evidence or beat up any potentially innocent men while I'm asleep.”
    “What did Davis tell you?”  He encircled her delicate wrist with his hand, effectively delaying her departure.  The touch sent an unsuspected jolt up his arm, and he struggled to remain holding her there when his body willed him to do other things.
    “Probably the same things he told you, but you refused to even consider,” Brynn answered wearily.  “Face it, Good.  Your brother wasn't a little angel.”
    “He wasn't the devil either.  He liked women, so what?”
    “So what?”  Her eyes widened.  “Are you saying it's perfectly acceptable to have sex with a minor?”
    Adam's grip tightened around Brynn's wrist automatically, an action he wasn't aware of until he saw her wince.  Quickly, he released his grasp on her and stuffed his hands back into his front pockets before he did anything else he would regret.
    “There is no proof he ever did anything like that.  I refuse to believe it.  My brother was a good man.  As for the married women, well, it takes two to tango.  Obviously, the type of women who would cheat on their husbands couldn't be prime examples of innocence.”  He gave her a long, pointed glare, knowing he'd feel like an ass later, but he couldn't seem to stop rubbing salt in that same gaping wound each time the chance to do so arose.
    She opened her mouth and he knew he was about to be told where he could go and what he could do to himself once he reached the hot climate, but he was saved from the verbal lashing as Jamie Lee approached.  The young blond’s low slung, hip-hugging jeans and white rib-knit top did more than hug her generous curves.
    “Hey guys, everything all right out here?”  Jamie Lee’s gaze slid from him to Brynn and