Manhunt by Carla Cassidy

Author:Carla Cassidy [Cassidy, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-09-22T05:00:00+00:00

Alyssa stood with Billy at the front door. “You’re running around with a tough crowd these days,” he said.

She smiled and looked out the door where she could see Nick waiting in the car. “He’s staying at the bed-and-breakfast. You’re lucky he didn’t instantly arrest you for shooting at him.”

“He seems like a stand-up kind of guy.”

“I like him.” Such simple words for such complicated feelings, she thought.

“I know. I can tell.” He smiled at her. “Your eyes never lit up for me the way they do for him. You take care of that heart of yours. I don’t want to see it banged up and bruised.”

She stretched up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry about me, Billy. You take care of yourself and Cheri and try to stay out of trouble.”

His eyes twinkled merrily. “I try, but trouble seems to find me.”

They murmured goodbyes, then Alyssa stepped out on the porch and walked toward the car. As she walked, she saw Nick’s gaze on her. It rivaled the heat of the sun overhead and made her self-consciously aware of the sway of her hips, the thrust of her breasts against her cotton dress and the memory of his lips on hers.

She slid into the passenger seat, wondering if he had any idea how he affected her on such a primal level. Maybe it was because in the untamed visions in her mind, she’d already made love to him a dozen times and now had a lover’s awareness of him that was breathtaking.

“Did you get what you needed from Billy?” she asked as she buckled her seat belt.

“Yeah.” He put the car in gear and pulled away from Billy’s place. “You and Billy…Clay told me you’re good friends?” There was a tone in his voice that made her realize he didn’t want to know if she and Billy were friends, but he did want to know exactly what kind of relationship she and Billy shared.

“Billy and I have been friends since high school.

Both of us were outsiders…me because my fellow students already had begun to identify me as different…weird, and Billy because he was always in trouble.”

“In trouble how?”

“Fighting. Somebody was always saying something stupid or unkind about Billy’s sister and he was constantly punching somebody out. Anyway, after high school we maintained our friendship, then a couple of years ago we tried to take it one step further. Billy was my first…my only lover.”

She emitted a self-conscious laugh, finding it strange to be discussing this with Nick. “Our physical relationship only lasted for a few weeks. We knew it wasn’t right, that we’d crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed. I loved Billy, but not in that way. It was a mutual decision that we go back to what we had…a strong friendship but not a romance.”

“Not many people can go backward and continue to maintain a friendship after a physical bond is established and doesn’t work out,” Nick said.

“I wanted to maintain my friendship with Billy, especially after his parents’ deaths and him taking over full-time care for Cheri.

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