Love Me Read Online Free Page A

assistance.”
    “Don’t stand there and insult me.”
    “I’m not insulting you.  I’m simply stating the obvious.  You have no skills that are relevant to this situation.  I don’t even know why you’re here.”
    Jacquelyn spun away and continued climbing, and Brittney watched her until she disappeared.  There were a thousand comments she might have hurled, but what was the use?
    Her mother was miserably unhappy and—as far as Brittney could tell—had never enjoyed being a parent or a wife.  She’d hated her husband and her children.  The manner in which she’d just spoken to Brittney was how she’d always spoken to Brittney.  The caustic exchange was nothing new. 
    Typically, Brittney ignored the truth, but for once, reality was crushing her.  She might have been five years old again, hovering in her mother’s shadow, yearning to be noticed.  The strongest urge swept through her, the same one that had rattled her every second since Jacquelyn had arrived in Denver:  to run away, to run and run and run and keep on running forever.
    She turned from the stairs, and to her great embarrassment, Matthew Monroe was down the hall, audaciously leaned against the doorway to the front parlor.  His arms were crossed over his chest, giving him a bored air of superiority.
    He had to have heard every despicable word her mother had spewed.  Brittney should have been outraged, but instead, she was extremely ashamed.
    Jacquelyn’s antipathy was a well-kept secret, like having an alcoholic in the family.  Lucas and Dustin were tired of her antics and had quit dealing with her.  Brittney was the only one who still tried, the only one foolish enough to pretend that her mother was normal and they had a normal relationship. 
    On realizing that the disgraceful truth had been revealed, Brittney felt stripped naked, as if she was posed in the foyer without any clothes.
    For an eternity, they stared, not speaking.  He assessed her, his striking blue eyes digging deep, prodding at all her old hurts and insecurities.  She saw understanding in his gaze, she saw compassion and sympathy.  Gad, she saw pity.
    How dare he pity her!
    Incensed beyond measure, she whirled away and marched outside, hurried across the wide porch and down to the sidewalk.  She started walking, not sure of where she was going, but she didn’t care.  The blocks passed in a blur, the neighborhood gradually altering.  The houses grew smaller, the traffic increased. 
    She didn’t think about any of the issues plaguing her.  Not her approaching marriage that had her so distressed.  Not her fiancé who had her worrying that he wasn’t the man she needed.  Not her mother lurking like a black cloud back at the mansion.  Not her brothers who were congregating up in the mountains for Dustin’s own wedding.
    She didn’t know how long she continued.  An hour?  Two?  By the time she slowed, she had no idea where she was.  She was in shorts and sandals, and she had rubbed a raw blister on her heel. 
    Desperate to get her bearings, she halted and gaped around like a blind person. 
    A car rumbled up, idling at the curb, and when she glanced over, she was stunned to find a classic red Mustang and Matthew Monroe behind the wheel.
    “Get in,” he said.  He pushed open the passenger door.
    She wanted to refuse.  She wanted to be bitchy and rude and tell him to go screw himself, but her burst of temper had flamed out.
    She was tired and thirsty and hungry and…sad.  She’d like to hop on a plane and fly to a tropical island where no one knew her, where no one expected anything from her.  She’d pick a location that was hot and sunny and lay on the beach for a week.  Maybe then, she’d feel better.  Maybe then, she wouldn’t be so out of control.
    She slid into the car, and he hit the gas and took off.  He had loud music playing, a bluesy band with lots of bass so it was impossible to talk, for which she was grateful.  She couldn’t