Brave the Heat Read Online Free

herself.
    Letting out a sigh, she stared at the lovely, little storefront without really seeing it. Who was she kidding? She hadn’t really seen a damn thing since running into Gavin in front of the school two hours ago. That moment, the one she’d dreaded for fifteen years, had finally happened—and it had been like an out-of-body experience.
    For a split second, she’d had the urge to run up to him and jump into his arms. To bury her face in the crook of his neck and breathe him in, to inhale the scent of soap and firewood that was so distinctly his. All these years later she could still smell it if she closed her eyes. But when she saw that hurt, hard look on his face, Jordan had known it was too late. The damage had been done and there was no undoing it. She was the one who had run off, so how could she blame him for finding solace in the arms of someone else?
    A few days after she’d left all those years ago, Jordan had finally broken down and called her friend Suzanne only to find out that Gavin had already taken up with Missy Oakland. That horrid, bitchy girl had been chasing him all through high school, and apparently Gavin wasn’t as uninterested as he always claimed he was. When Jordan heard that, the last thing she was going to do was come home. So she stayed in the city. Got a waitressing job and eventually a crappy apartment that was one step above the youth hostel she’d stayed in at first.
    In her fantasies, the ones she let herself play out while falling asleep at night, she imagined Gavin pulling her into his arms and covering her mouth with his. Offering forgiveness without asking her for an explanation, even though he clearly deserved one. Telling her how sorry he was for betraying her and asking her if they could start over.
    No. It was too late for apologies now.
    The real moment—the one she’d survived and by some miracle hadn’t vomited in the middle of—had been far less romantic than her fantasy. She hadn’t been welcomed home by a boy who loved her, but by a man who was still painfully angry after all these years. Not even that charming, dimpled grin, the one that awakened a swarm of butterflies in her belly, could hide the hurt that edged his pale green eyes.
    His thick, dark hair had been cut short and there was a whisper of gray at the temples now. That ruggedly handsome face had grown even more attractive with the years that had passed, but when his square jaw set and the smile faded, the hurt remained. And that pain she saw in his eyes, that was on her. It was one hundred percent her own damn fault.
    It was no surprise that Gavin was still angry, both that she’d left town without a word to him or anyone else, and that she’d never come back. He wasn’t alone. She was pretty pissed off herself and easily recalled the pain of his betrayal. After all, she’d only been gone for a few days and apparently Gavin started screwing the first girl he could!
    Nice. So much for true love , Jordan thought.
    He’d obviously never really loved her, so why the hell was he so angry with her? Jeez.
    Jordan scoffed and tapped the steering wheel with her fingers. Right. Fine. He could be furious with her , but he sure as hell hadn’t cornered the market on it. She was still pretty annoyed herself.
    Eyes closed, she let the cool breeze of the air-conditioning wash over her, wishing it could wash away the mistakes she’d made. There had been so many.
    That was the first time she’d run away.
    Now here she was, fifteen years later, doing the same thing. Running. Starting over. Jordan looked over her shoulder at her sleeping daughters and fought the tears that threatened to fall. It wasn’t only about her anymore. They were all starting over.
    Letting out a huff, she rested her forehead on knuckles wrapped in a death grip around the leather-bound steering wheel. What in the world was she doing back here anyway? Even when she was signing the rental papers for the cozy house on the beach, that voice