All of Me Read Online Free Page A

hit her then. That she really didn’t have anyone. She was alone and it was her own fault. She’d wanted to stay unattached.
     Her job had been her excuse, but in truth, intimacy of any form scared the hell out of her.
    Maybe in the back of her mind, she’d always known Alex was unobtainable. He was too good-looking and accomplished to be single,
     plus she’d never come right out and asked him if he was married. Why not?
    You’ve got to stop this line of thinking. You can’t let yourself get dragged down.
    She feared that if the dark cloud chasing her ever caught up with her, the depression would swallow her whole. She had to
     do something. She had to get away from her life, think this thing through, formulate an action plan.
    Two security guards appeared in her doorway. “DA Fredericks sent us. We’re here to escort you off the premises, Ms. Samuels,”
     the tallest one said sheepishly.
    “Fine.” Jillian snapped her briefcase closed and straightened.
    “I’ll carry that box for you,” said the second security guard.
    “Thank you.”
    They escorted her down the corridor, past the curious eyes of her colleagues. Jillian held her head high. A few minutes later,
     hands shaking, she slid behind the wheel of her red Sebring convertible, the cardboard box stowed in the back behind her,
     her briefcase stashed on the passenger seat. With trembling fingers, she tried to stab the key into the ignition. After several
     fumbling attempts, she finally got the engine started.
    Were all men cheating bastards? Lying pigs? Even Blake had cheated on his wife. He’d told her his infidelity was what had
     destroyed his marriage. He regretted it. He was ashamed of what he’d done, but he’d done it. If a good guy like Blake couldn’t
     keep his pants zipped …
    I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt, Jillian. We can start over fresh, you and I.
Alex’s words rang in her head.
    Jillian gritted her teeth. Had he honestly thought she’d jump at the chance to resume their affair? God, how she regretted
     sleeping with the man, but even more, she regretted feeling as if they’d had something special.
    Fool. In your heart you knew better.
    It was her own fault for daring to think she deserved the same kind of happiness her friends had found. They’d all wished
     on the wedding veil. All met the loves of their lives. They’d told her it was worth the risk. That she could find love too.
     So she’d dared to take a chance.
    And it had exploded in her face. Dammit, she’d known better.
    Blake dropped dead in Starbucks of the brain tumor he’d hidden from me.
    He had abandoned her as well. The only man she’d ever really trusted. Jillian stared unseeingly through the windshield as
     she drove from the parking lot, her mind numb. Losing Blake hurt so damned much.
    Tears, hot and unexpected, burned the back of her eyelids, but she refused to let them fall. She sucked in air, sucked up
     the pain, closed off her heart. Never again. She’d been hurt too many times by men to ever truly trust one.
    It didn’t matter that her three best friends had found true love and happily-ever-after. They were different from her. They
     believed in magic.
    No matter how hard she tried, Jillian couldn’t believe.
    Without even knowing how she got there, numb from everything that had happened in the past week, Jillian drove to the condo
     she rented in a trendy area of Houston not far from downtown. Her lease was up at the end of the month; she’d planned on renewing
     it, but now she realized there was nothing holding her here. She’d lost everything. Her mentor, her job, her self-respect.
    She wanted to curl into a tight ball and howl from the pain. She hated herself like this. Vulnerable, taken advantage of,
     used, disregarded. She’d spent her life trying to rise above the victim mentality, to prove she deserved better than the way
     she’d been treated by her stepmother.
    But now she felt stupid, deceived, cheated. And worst