Dangerous Reunion (Love Inspired Suspense) Read Online Free Page A

“Please have a seat.” Closing the door, she took a deep breath before settling in her chair. She propped her elbows on top of her desk and laced her fingers. “What can I do for you?”
    Brock studied her for a moment before he spoke. “How are you, Kate?”
    That was a good question. At the moment she wasn’t sure. She struggled not to betray her anger that he had returned to Ocracoke. “I’m fine.”
    He nodded. “Good.” He leaned back, gripped the arms of his chair and let his gaze drift around the office. “I remember sitting in this room and talking with your father. Now you occupy his place here. I ran into our old track coach a few months ago, and he told me your father had died. I was sorry to hear that.”
    Kate reached for a stack of papers on her desk and began to straighten them. “Yes, three years ago.”
    She glanced at him, and his eyes flickered with sadness. “I sent your father a few emails after we ended our engagement, but he never answered. I guess he blamed me for what happened, but I’m really sorry I didn’t know about his death.”
    Kate shoved the papers aside and clasped her hand to keep from striking her desk top. “Would you have sent condolences? I don’t remember you sending any when my mother died.”
    He shook his head. “No, I didn’t, but there were reasons for that.”
    Her heart pounded in her chest, and she feared that he could hear it. “And what would they have been?”
    He raked his hand through his hair. “Come on, Kate. We’d just had a bad breakup. I knew how you must be grieving over your mother’s death, and I didn’t want to cause you any more pain. But I have a standing order at the Baskets and Blooms to place flowers on your mother’s grave each year on her birthday.”
    Kate’s eyes widened, and she gasped. The arrival of the bouquets delivered to the cemetery had been a mystery for years. The owners at the flower shop had informed her they didn’t know the identity of the buyer and that payment always came from a mainland law office that wouldn’t reveal their client’s name. She would never have dreamed they were from Brock. “Those are from you? But why?”
    He shrugged. “It’s a way I can show how I felt about a remarkable woman.”
    A memory flashed into her mind. The day Brock left the island he had taken her mother to the beach, and they had been gone a long time. When they returned, Kate met him coming out of the guest room with his suitcase in his hand. He’d pushed past her and walked out the door. That was the last time she had seen him until today.
    Kate took a deep breath. “I—I don’t know what to say but thank you.”
    Brock smiled. “There’s no need to thank me.” He shifted in his chair and leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs. “But that’s not why I’m here. I know you’re busy, and this may not be a good time for me to drop by. But when I saw you on the beach earlier, I knew the sooner I came to see you the better off I’d be.”
    Kate frowned. “I don’t understand. If you thought I’d order you off the island when I saw you, you don’t have to worry. As long as you don’t break any laws while you’re here, our paths probably won’t even cross.”
    “I know that. But the thing is, I want our paths to cross. I came back to Ocracoke to see you, Kate. I need your help.”
    The heartbreak of six years ago boiled up inside of her. He needed her help? Where was he when she needed him? She narrowed her eyes. “How could you ask me for anything?”
    He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I know it shocks you, and I wouldn’t blame you if you asked me to leave. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Just please hear me out before you make a decision.”
    She picked up a pencil on her desk and rolled it between her fingers. “Very well. What do you want to tell me?”
    He took a deep breath. “Let me start by saying that three months ago I wouldn’t have believed I would ever