Beautiful Storm (Lightning Strikes Book 1) by Barbara Freethy

Author:Barbara Freethy [Freethy, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Fog City Publishing, LLC
Published: 2015-10-01T05:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Michael found Alicia in what was probably her childhood bedroom, judging by the floral bedspreads on the twin beds, the matching white desk and dresser, and posters of boy bands from a decade ago. She was sitting on the window bench, and as he entered the room, she wiped her teary eyes before turning to look at him.

He crossed the room and sat down on the bench next to her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Despite her words, she stared back at him with hurt in her beautiful brown eyes. He felt his stomach tighten and a knot of emotion fill his own throat. He wanted to make her feel better. He wanted to take care of her. He wanted to protect her from whatever was making her hurt, and he hadn't felt that way in a very long time.

He understood passion and heat. Tenderness and this tightening feeling of affection were much more disturbing.

"You've been crying," he said, wiping a tear off her cheek with the tip of his finger. "Were you thinking about your father?"

"Yes, but that's not why I got so stupid and emotional down there."

"Your mother was hard on you."

"She always is."

"She told me to tell you she's sorry."

Alicia's eyes widened. "Seriously? What brought that on?"

He shrugged. "I might have said something about her being out of line."

"You defended me?"

"I said what I thought. I don't stand by and do nothing when people I care about are being hurt."

Her gaze met his, a question in her eyes. "You care about me, Michael?"

"How could I not?" he countered. "Look what you've done for me."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome. So are you planning to come back downstairs or hide out up here for a while longer?"

"I haven't decided yet." She let out a sigh. "I don't like myself in Texas, Michael. I come into this house, and I'm not me anymore. I'm the teenage girl I used to be. I'm the one who disappoints my mother. It's annoying."

He smiled, relieved that she wasn't as emotionally distraught as he'd anticipated. But then, Alicia had a way of rebounding quickly when life knocked her down.

"I like you in Texas, Alicia. In fact, I like you everywhere." He leaned forward and cupped her face with his hands.

Her gaze darkened. "Michael, what are you doing?"

"Nothing yet. But I have some ideas."

"Distracting ideas."

"Oh, yeah," he said, his pulse racing at her sweet scent, the thought of her lips under his again. She was so close, so very close.

"We need to focus," she said, a desperate edge to her voice. "Remember why we're here."

She was only repeating what he'd told himself every time her smile made his heart catch, but he didn't care about why they were here at this moment. He only cared about feeding the desire that was running rampant through his body.

"I remember," he murmured. "But right now it's just you and me—and a moment."

Her lips parted in what he anticipated would be a protest, but he kissed away whatever words were hovering on her lips.

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