Lean on Me by Claudia Hall Christian

Author:Claudia Hall Christian
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, strong female character, military fiction, claudia hall christian, alex the fey

“It was very sweet of you to go to the funeral,” Raz said.

He rolled over in bed to stroke Samantha’s naked back. She’d left her long auburn hair down for him. He loved the way it spread across her translucent skin.

“It was… Is there a word that means both beautiful and sad?” Samantha asked.

“Poignant,” Raz said. “That’s the best we came up with.”

“We?” Samantha asked. “You mean you and Alex.”

“The guys?” Raz sat up to look at her. “Alex was with Dahlia most of the reception.”

She looked away from him.

“Are you going to ask me about the picture?” Raz asked.

“What picture?” Samantha’s blue eyes flashed liquid fire.

“Okay, okay,” he flopped back to the bed. “Have it your way.”

“My way? My way!?” Samantha’s voice rose with each word. “Yes, you’re right. It’s my way that my boyfriend takes my sister to some romantic event that no one knows anything about. And that picture? Disappeared off the Internet! Every copy! TechCrunch says the only a high-level CIA operative would have the authority to make a photo like that evaporate. Know anyone like that?”

“Samantha,” Raz said.

“Why don’t you just admit it?” Samantha asked. “Man up; admit it.”

“Admit what?”

She flipped off the bed and stood naked next to the bed.

“You love Alex.”

“Do I love Alexandra?” Raz asked. “That’s true. Is that what I’m ‘manning up’ about?”

He sat up.

“So, I’m the replacement?” She pulled on her clothing. “A second best while you wait for Alex?”

“No, that’s not true.” Puzzled, he watched her get dressed.

“You’ll always love Alex.”

She picked up her shoe. She was going to throw it at him but realized it was her favorite Christian Louboutin. She looked at the shoe, sneered at him, and put it on. With one last glare at him, she was running down the stairs toward the door.

He jumped from the bed to follow her through his carriage house.

She flipped around to look at his naked form. Even angry and hurt, his wide muscular shoulders, narrowed washboard stomach, and bulging thighs made her pause.

“When you say it… I know how it sounds….”

He let out a breath and shrugged.

“You KNOW how it sounds? It sounds like I’m wasting my time with you. It sounds like I’m setting myself up to be hurt.” Picking up her handbag, Samantha added, “It sounds like I should go.”

“Please slow down,” he said. “I don’t know how we went from ‘Let’s make a life together; let’s have a child’ to ‘I should go.’”

Samantha stopped at the front door to his carriage house. She turned to look at him. Even though every molecule in her body yearned to leave, something in his face made her stand her ground.

“It’s me, Sami. It’s not Alex or Alex and me. It’s me. I’m broken.” He shook his head and turned his back to her.

Samantha wanted to leave. She tried to force her body to move but she was rooted in this spot. She’d seen her father in this very predicament. He’d told her once that the bravest thing he’d done in his life was to stand in place when things got hard with Rebecca.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.