A Stallion Dream by Deborah Fletcher Mello

Author:Deborah Fletcher Mello
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-06-06T12:35:26+00:00

Chapter 8

London completely shut down. She had nothing to say to him as he drove them to her home. When they arrived at her apartment, she crawled into her bed, pulling the covers up over her head. She heard Collin on the phone with Perry, saying that she’d become sick at lunch and wasn’t able to return. He insinuated he planned to take her to urgent care and then see her safely home. Then he promised to keep the man posted. She listened with half an ear, saying nothing at all.

London offered him little to explain her reaction to seeing Victor Wells. But even without her saying it out loud, Collin instinctively knew Victor had been the man who’d hurt her. The relationship that had gone all kinds of wrong. The love that had built walls of steel around her heart. He knew, and he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it.

He sat down on her bed, reaching a hand out to stroke her shoulder. He felt her body tense beneath his touch. He was half expecting her to pull away, but when she didn’t he kicked off his shoes and stretched out onto the bed beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, cradling his body around hers. She was suddenly crying again, low sobs that pulled at his heartstrings. He allowed her the moment, holding her tightly until she cried herself to sleep.

* * *

London had no idea how long she’d slept. It was dark out, the only reflection of light coming from the other side of her home. She sat up abruptly, startled as someone rattled pots and pans in her kitchen. Her anxiety lifted when she heard Collin singing along with the stereo that played softly in the living room. She took a deep breath and then a second, settling into the nervousness that deflated like a punctured balloon losing air.

She reached over to the nightstand and turned on the light. A soft glow illuminated the room. She stood up slowly, regaining her balance. As she moved toward the bathroom she noticed Collin’s clothes folded neatly over the upholstered chair. She paused, trailing her finger across the silk fabric of his suit jacket.

She owed Collin an explanation and she had no idea where to begin. Explaining herself had never been an issue because she’d been a master at hiding the dirty secret she knew would have people eyeing her differently. This was the first time she hadn’t been able to hide the fear she felt when seeing Victor Wells.

She had idolized her former professor. She had also loved him, imagining her future revolving around his. When he’d reciprocated her feelings, she’d been on cloud nine. As graduation had neared and she’d firmly established the first steps toward her future, Victor had suddenly become possessive and dictatorial. What she’d taken for confidence shifted into arrogance and his conservative demeanor more authoritarian. His compliments were backhanded affronts that were more insulting than kind.

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