Read Online Wounded (An Aspen Series Novella) (Prequel to Relentless) by Cindy Stark - Free Book Online

she wouldn’t
look at him.  Instead, she bit her bottom lip and kept walking.
    It was obvious she didn’t want to talk to him
right now.  He should have realized his prank would frighten her, and that it
was a totally juvenile thing to do.  Man, it had backfired.  Big time.  He
slowed, half tempted to give her time to cool down.  Then again, something told
him that would be a huge mistake.
    “Wait,” he called again.  He stepped up his game,
grabbing her by the upper arm, forcing her to stop.  “Can you hang on just a
second?”
    She met his gaze, the mascara puddled under her
eyes making her look pissed and pitiful at the same time.
    Concern and regret ate at him.  “I’m sorry.”  He
pushed her bangs to the side of her forehead.  How did he explain this?  “I’ve
been on edge since I got back into town, but I shouldn’t have been such a jerk. 
I forgot you didn’t like water.”
    “No big deal,” she said as she pulled from him.
    That was a lie.  It was a damn big deal.  “Kimber,
please.”
    She turned once again, vulnerability shadowing
her eyes.  A half-laugh laced with sarcasm slipped from her mouth.  “You know, I’ve
been trying to talk to you since you returned home.  But I’ve changed my mind. 
I really don’t want to talk to you right now.”  She paused, her wounded
emotions painted across her face.  “Maybe not ever again.”
    That was the one thing he feared the most.  “You
don’t mean that.”
    “Maybe I do.  Maybe I’ve been pining after a man
who’s been gone for too long.  Maybe Eric was right and time and distance have
taken too big of a toll after all.”
    “No.”  He wished Eric would keep away from Kimber
and keep his fucking mouth shut.  “Please.  I’m really sorry.”  He shook his
head, trying to straighten his thoughts.  He couldn’t remember when things had
turned south between them.  He’d been struggling after his first close-up kill
and hadn’t emailed like he should have.  But then she’d backed off, too, and
the next thing he knew, he’d received her fatal email.  “I knew it would be
hard to come home and see you, but I never meant to come across as vindictive.”
    “No.  I deserved it.”  Her words might have
seemed conciliatory except for the sorrow dripping from them.  A slight evening
breeze blew through town, and she ran her hands over the damp skin on her arms. 
“You deserved better.  I should have had faith in you.  I screwed up.”  She met
his gaze with resolve.  “But I’d hoped you’d give me a chance to show you that
I am better now.  That I’ve changed.”  She coughed.
    He’d changed, too, and not for the better.  “Maybe
we both have.”  But she was still there talking to him, so maybe they had a
chance.  “You’re freezing,” he said as he unbuttoned his shirt and removed it.
    Her gaze slipped to his bare chest, warming him
against the chill of the approaching evening.  She allowed him to slip the
shirt around her, and it took all of his restraint not to crush her against him
and tell her how much he missed her.
     “Can I drive you home?  I’d feel much better
talking if you weren’t shivering.”  Even if their time as a couple had passed,
they both had things that needed to be said before they could move on.
    He was relieved, if still nervous, when she
nodded her consent.
    *        *        *
    Kimber’s house was in shadows when Jerry pulled
in front of it.  He opened the car door for her and held out a hand.  When she
latched onto his fingers, her touch warmed a cold and lonely spot he’d held
inside for far too long.  He kept hold of her hand as he walked her to her door,
unwilling to let go of her so soon.  The ember of anger simmering inside him faded
with each passing second.   Despite everything, he wanted to forgive
her.
    “I always liked seeing you in my shirt,” he said
as they climbed the porch stairs.
    She laughed, and it was a balm to his