Quiet Storm, Season 2, Episode 6 (Rising Storm) Read Online Free Page A

cleaned the kitchen.
    So yeah, the dark, sexy man standing in front of her had rescued her. Twice, if she counted him running Hector out of Storm in the first place. But he shouldn’t have done it the way he did. Behind her back. As if she was some porcelain doll. Because she wasn’t—at least she wasn’t anymore.
    It was time for Joanne to stand on her own. Without Hector. Without a man.
    She frowned.
    Without Dillon?
    The thought terrified her. And yet...
    “Joanne, please.”
    She shook her head and pushed past him, hurrying outside. She was fast, but Dillon caught up with her easily, taking her elbow and tugging her to a stop right in front of the office.
    Roughly, Joanne jerked her arm away. “Dillon, don’t. You haven’t any right.”
    “Don’t I?” His eyes bore into hers, hard and soft at the same time. Tender and loving. And worried.
    Her shoulders drooped. “I don’t know—”
    “What?”
    She just shook her head. She wanted to say that she didn’t know how to do this. How to get free. How to be with him.
    But how could she say those things knowing that Dillon would step in and be her white knight? And probably get himself killed in the process.
    She had her life. Her place.
    She was the one who took care of her children. She was the one who protected everybody.
    Everybody but herself.
    “I—I need to go.”
    This time, he didn’t reach for her. But when he called after her, the low, deep determination that underscored her name made her pause and turn around.
    She didn’t say anything. Just stood there waiting for him to speak.
    “I’m not giving up on you,” he finally said.
    And despite herself, Joanne smiled.
     
    * * * *
     
    If there was any justice in the world, Dakota Alvarez thought, then Courtney—Pink’s bitch of an owner—would contract a truly nasty case of the clap.
    Because if it wasn’t for the boutique’s owner, Dakota would be employed by now instead of wasting time sitting in the Bluebonnet Cafe while she filled out a stack of stupid applications for mind-numbingly dull jobs like the cashier at the Suds & Such on the edge of town. Like, what kind of a name for a convenience store was that, anyway?
    “Deep thoughts?”
    Dakota’s black mood shifted in response to the friendly voice, and she tilted her head up to see the smiling face of Patrick Murphy, looking pretty damn sexy in his EMT uniform, actually. She lowered her head again, weirdly uncomfortable with the fact that he looked so hot.
    “Not really,” she muttered. “I’m pretty shallow. Or hadn’t you heard?”
    “Are you? I don’t know, Dakota. I think you sell yourself short.”
    He slid into the booth opposite her, just as casual as you please, as if they were the best of friends. She considered leaning back and giving him one of her haughty what the hell looks, but the truth was she kind of liked it. They were friends, after all. He was the only one in this podunk town that seemed to understand her. Hell, for that matter, he was the only one who seemed to like her.
    “Job hunting?” he asked.
    “Hunting, yeah. Not doing much finding.” She made a face. “And even if I do get these jobs, my brain will rot and slide out my ears. Here’s your change! Have a nice day! Ugh.”
    Patrick grinned, and she felt a little better at having amused him. But only just a little. Mostly, she was pissed at Courtney. No, strike that. She was pissed at her mother, because if Joanne hadn’t caused a scene on the square, then that job would still be Dakota’s.
    Except ...
    She frowned as she looked at Patrick, remembering what he’d said to her a while back. Could he be right? Could her daddy be the reason Dakota lost that job? Could he really be the monster everyone seemed to think he was?
    “What?” Patrick asked, and Dakota immediately shook her head, throwing off the troublesome thoughts. Her daddy adored her and was good to her. He wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t hurting her mother.
    She’d know it if he