Lawman's Perfect Surrender. Jennifer Morey

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СКАЧАТЬ seemed to feed her coyness, which he was reluctant to call infatuation. “You’re already the best man you can be?”

      “If that’s the way you want to look at it, yes.”

      “I like a man who’s sure of himself.”

      He liked a woman who smiled the way she did. He looked at her straight white teeth and the light of happiness sparkling in her beautiful eyes. After all she’d been through, she still had a sunny side. And a strong side, too. He doubted those seminars had anything to do with that. It was natural, something that had already been there, had been awakened with a little encouragement. She met his gaze and they fell into a long stare that he began to feel too much.

      The waitress returned with his card and receipt and he was glad to add the tip and be done with this.

      Standing, he tucked the pen and notebook into his shirt pocket. “That’s enough for now. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”

      “Okay.” She seemed awkward now, as if she’d noticed the change in him.

      She led him out the front door and he helped her to her car in the community-center parking lot.

      “Are you okay to drive?” he asked.

      “Oh, yes. I’m better now, other than a few cuts and bruises.”

      He nodded once and handed her his business card. “Just in case.”

      She smiled, but not as brightly as before, and took the card. “Thanks.” He wondered if she was disappointed because she thought he wasn’t interested. He was, and that was the problem. Not only was he on duty, falling in love wasn’t his thing. Not that he’d fall in love with Gemma. He didn’t even welcome the possibility to present itself. Maybe when he was older … years from now. One round of that was enough to keep him casual for a while, and Gemma didn’t strike him as the casual type.

      As he watched her drive away, he noticed a boy sitting on a motorcycle who looked familiar. He was parked in a space that was partially concealed by a tree and shrubs and seemed to be watching the entrance to the center. Tall and lean, he wore a helmet that hid shaggy black hair and a Ryan Gosling face.

      Ford followed his look and saw Grayson emerge with a couple in their early fifties. Mr. and Mrs. Monroe. Two of Grayson’s Devotees? Curtis Monroe seemed to be. His wife appeared rather bored.

      Looking back at the boy, he finally placed him. Dillon was the couple’s teenaged son. The boy spotted him and started the motorcycle, glancing once more at his parents before motoring away. Why had he been watching the community center?

      Ford turned back to Grayson, who waved as the couple headed for the parking lot. Then Grayson saw Ford and waved again in greeting.

      Ford saluted him, turning toward his Escalade. Some day the man would be behind bars. And he was going to do everything he could to help put him there.

      He probably thought she was stupid. You’re already the best man you can be? Had she actually said that? Gemma stopped her brand-new red Charger in her gravel driveway where a cement path led to the front door of her house.

      She had no plans to find a boyfriend. Yet, meeting Ford had her flirting without reservation. It had come naturally. She hadn’t even thought to hold back the impulse. Impulse had led her to marry Jed and look where that had gotten her. She had to learn to use her head with men. Jed had shown her that not every man could be trusted.

      Maybe Ford made her feel safe and that’s why she’d lost her head. He was a cop. A handsome cop. Seeing him standing outside the community center in front of his big black Escalade had given her the impression of ominous power. He hadn’t disappointed close up, either. His blue eyes had riveted her. His wind-tousled blond hair made her imagine running her fingers through the thick, healthy strands. His height and muscular build only added to his general aura of indomitable strength and resolve. Sureness built from experience. And then there was the uniform. Something about it fascinated her. He was a lawman. A representation of everything Jed wasn’t.

      Ford’s effect on her still lingered, warm and mysterious. Jed had made her feel things, too. Things that had turned out to be false. Just because Ford was a cop didn’t mean she could throw her heart at him and trust him to take care of it. She had to stop jumping into relationships that way. Heart first.

      Getting out of her car and pressing the lock button on her fob, she walked toward the front door of the old house she’d bought. She glanced around to make sure Jed didn’t pop out of the fading light. The sun had sunk beyond the horizon but the sky still held a blue hue, casting her house in shadows. Two stories with gabled windows and a covered porch, it was painted a dark steel blue with off-white trim and had a maroon door. White daisies flourished along the front. Their glowing white pedals were eerie in the dimming light.

      She stepped up the stairs and used her key to unlock the door, glancing around again. When she stepped inside, freshly treated dark wood floors, white trim and neutrally colored walls would normally welcome her. Instead she looked for signs of Jed. Pausing to lock the door, she listened for any sounds. Silence. Nothing had changed since she’d left. Everything was as it had been.

      She turned and passed an open stairway on her way to the kitchen, flipping on a light to chase the shadows away. Still, she couldn’t shake the apprehension warning her that Jed might reappear. She’d had a bad feeling when he’d started sending her emails. It was as if he was stalking her. She’d shown the emails to Lacy, who’d been concerned and that had made Gemma worry more. He hadn’t threatened her in them, only pleaded with her to come home. Creepy. And then he’d shown up in Cold Plains, exactly what she’d feared.

      She wondered if Lacy had been the one to tell Samuel about her attack. Lacy had been the first person she’d called. Since she’d moved here, they’d grown close. Gemma met her at the coffee shop and she’d invited her to a seminar. They’d struck up an instant friendship.

      After opening the refrigerator, Gemma shut it again, no longer craving iced tea. She was too unsettled, unable to quell the feeling of lurking danger. Her gaze travelled over the soft green cabinets to the colorful window dressings above the darkened window.

      She tried to redirect her focus, turning it toward the house she loved so much. All the furniture and appliances were the best money could buy, thanks to a long-building savings account she’d kept secret, and the sizable chunk of money she’d taken from Jed. It wasn’t all his money anyway. They’d been married and he’d lost that part of the court proceedings. The judge had given her even more than she’d asked for. Half of everything, and everything was a lot. His parents had left him a fortune before alcoholism killed them in their fifties. She figured Jed owed her anyway, after the way he’d abused her and hoarded their money. He was an animal disguised as a successful orthopedic doctor. He probably enjoyed setting broken bones for the pain it caused his patients.

      Lifting her hand, she felt the sore skin around her temple where his fist had split it open. Then she glided it down to her swollen nose and mouth where a cut still stung. She still hurt deep inside her torso but those bruises were healing now. Her leg muscles were sore from trying to kick him or fight free of him. Her shoulders. Her whole body was sore from the violent struggle.

      When I come back, you better be ready, he’d hissed in that evil voice she’d learned to dread. Full of warped love. You’ll either come back home with me, or I’ll kill you, Gemma.

      Just before letting her battered body drop to the floor of this very room, he’d added, СКАЧАТЬ