A Love Worth Living Read Online Free Page B

the looks of things, they were running behind. Perfect—she’d get some much-needed time to calm down.
    She slipped back out the doors and dashed to the ladies’ room across the hall. A little cold water, mascara and eyeliner, and maybe she could pass for the focused, competent woman she was supposed to be.
     
     
    A grueling ninety minutes later, Carrie left the stand, anxiety a lead weight in the pit of her stomach. The defense attorney had been brutal, taking advantage of every exhausted fumble she made. Though their case was strong, guilt nagged at her. She’d let down the family.
    “Carrie, hold on.” Gunnerson caught up and guided her into a nearby alcove rimmed with hard benches. He guided her to sit near the edge of one, then sat on the bench to her left. “Are you all right?”
    She pasted a moderate smile on her face. Too much and his bullshit meter would go off. “My phone died. I’m so sorry I slept through—”
    With one hand he waved aside her complaints. “Carrie, it’s not just this morning.” He grimaced and took her hand. “The files you submitted yesterday had some serious errors that need to be corrected.”
    Carrie dug fingernails into her leg. “I’ll come in and fix those today.”
    An emphatic shake of his head deterred her offer. “I’ve got Stevens working on them. And before you protest, I’ll make sure you get a final look at them when you come back to work.”
    “Tomorrow, then.”
    He inclined his head and raked her over with his expert eyes. “When you come back to work.”
    Cryptic much?
    He patted her on the back of the hand—shit, just like her dad used to do—and left her alone in the alcove to battle her tears.
    She didn’t know how much time passed before familiar footsteps approached. From the corner of her eye, she watched David fold down onto the bench next to her. “I hear you’ve got the day off.”
    Miserable, she nodded. Speaking wouldn’t be wise.
    “How about we go home?”
    Home. The word sounded so inviting when he said it. She took his outstretched hand and let him pull her up. Maybe she could glide on his pity and avoid the conversation that lurked in his eyes. Yeah, with those odds, she might as well buy a lotto ticket.
     
     
    The return trip was quiet until they reached her door. David again tended to her locks and ushered her in.
    “Thank you—”
    He groaned and hauled her against his lips, bringing down her defenses with a brutally tender kiss. He broadcast everything in his touch, as she’d suspected he would. Artifice wasn’t in David’s repertoire, and that was the very reason their lips hadn’t met last night—she knew he would undo her.
    A sob escaped her mouth, and he took the opportunity to sink his tongue against hers, lighting nerve endings she hadn’t known she had.
    Her arms looped around his neck to absorb his fortitude, and he tore away from her mouth, though his hands never stopped caressing her face. “You used me, and I’d let you do it again, Carrie, because I can’t seem to find good sense where you’re concerned.”
    His next kiss echoed the first but turned the volume up to eleven. His lips clashed with hers as teeth and tongues fought for dominance. Carrie tasted his conflict and the tears she hadn’t realized she was crying again.
    “Shit.” He ended the kiss and rested his head against hers. His thumbs swept away the wet trails on her cheeks. “Carrie, don’t cry.”
    But the floodgates had opened, and she couldn’t stop now. Oh hell. She turned to hide in her room until he left, but David scooped her up into his strong, safe arms and sat with her on the couch.
    She froze, unsure what to do, now that she was cuddled onto his lap. She wasn’t savvy about crying-woman protocol. And no one had ever held her with such care. With infinite patience, he stroked her hair and said nothing as she cried out her anxiety.
    She so didn’t deserve his tenderness, especially not after the way she’d treated him.