Dead Reckoning by Stanalei Fletcher

Author:Stanalei Fletcher [Fletcher, Stanalei]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Suspense, Action-Adventure
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2015-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Kellee stood in the middle of the motel room, completely naked. At the recollection of that ugly moment in her father’s office, where Egan had stripped her of her girlish crush, all her insecurities were flayed open to relive. She felt her world stop spinning. She didn’t know what kept her legs from folding and sending her body crashing to the floor.

Egan crossed the room and pulled on his jeans.

“You bastard,” she whispered.

His head whipped around. He couldn’t have missed the look on her face.

The muscle in his cheek hammered and his lips thinned to a tight line. “That’s me. I’m the bastard.”

She took a step toward him. The finger she pointed at his chest trembled with suppressed anger. “You walked away from me that day. After tossing out your pickup line—raising my hopes.” She stopped short. “I was hur—humiliated.”

“Humiliated? How about indecisive? You couldn’t make up your mind between me or Daddy. You always needed his permission.” He picked up his sweatpants, which he’d so impatiently discarded, and rolled them into a ball.

“That’s not true!” She crossed to the side of the bed and stood a couple of feet away from him.

He rounded on her. “Then what is the truth?”

Kellee floundered for the answer. Had she been a Daddy’s girl? And how could she admit she’d been in love with Egan? It was obvious he’d never felt the same.

“You still can’t decide, can you?” He picked up a pillow that had fallen to the floor.

“How can you say that? I can’t remember everything!”

He threw the pillow on her bed and faced her. “Because I’m a bastard, remember?”

A startling realization hit her. “That’s the reason I was afraid of you yesterday.” She spoke quietly to herself. “I thought it was because you were going to hurt me, but it was because of this buried memory.”

Misery etched across his face. “No,” he said softly. “Please don’t be afraid of me.”

Her stomach pitched at the ache in his tone.

Egan had always been strong. As much as she wanted to make him pay for that day, she couldn’t. All the hurt, the heartache that she’d experienced on that long ago afternoon blasted through her brain in a raw, unfiltered memory, then it melded with their recent lovemaking until her head spun.

The rumpled bed was evidence of the choices she’d made. Now she must live with the consequences.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said quietly. “Not now. At the park, I was confused. I didn’t want you to see me. I just didn’t understand why, until now.” She turned away, found her top and panties and pulled them on.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She kept her back to him as she straightened the covers. The scent of their lovemaking wafted off the sheets, mocking her attempts to ignore what they’d shared. Her new emotions cut like a sharp knife. Yesterday she’d recalled her crush on him, but hadn’t remembered his callous treatment. Tonight, she felt like she’d been lifted high in a balloon ride only to plummet back to earth when the reality of their relationship hit her.

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