UNEXPECTED compile Read Online Free

fingerprints marred the pale skin of her slender bicep. “If you touch me again, I’ll go straight inside to your wife and tell her everything.”
    A long silence stretched between the couple, disrupted by the night songs of crickets and frogs. Randy inhaled a deep breath, mesmerized by the mixture of passion, determination, and devastation on Karly’s face. Ablaze with emotion, the heart-shaped face took on an ethereal quality. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t tear his gaze from her. Relief came in the form of a distant car alarm, disturbing the quiet and breaking her spell over him. He scrubbed a hand over his face to clear his mind.
    “You need to go, Jerome,” Karly said. “Go back to your wife and stay the hell away from me.”
     
     
    When Jerome left, more than a few minutes passed before Karly regained her composure. Torn between the desire to scream or cry, she chose instead to stand immobile in the darkness, clenching and unclenching her fists until her thoughts steadied. Her words to Jerome had been brave, but her insides quivered with the turmoil of her emotions.
    The wound of their breakup was still raw. Less than two months ago, she’d been lying in his arms, watching the sunrise through a castle window. The trip to London had been the culmination of a lifelong dream. A romantic weekend getaway with an esteemed scholar had been the icing on the cake. Two days later, she saw the texts from his wife. The dream became a nightmare, leaving no doubt about his dubious character, and ripping her heart to shreds. Just when the gaping hole in her soul began to scab over, he ripped off the bandage and left her bleeding.
    Overwhelmed with the need to break something, she searched the immediate area until her gaze landed on a broken tree branch a few feet away. She bent to retrieve it, tested the weight in her hands, and looked around her for something to smash. Raising the limb overhead, she took a deep breath and aimed for the employee picnic table sitting beneath the tree.
    “Easy now.”
    The gravelly voice startled her. With a shriek of alarm, she whirled, heart in her throat, stick upraised. Randy eyed her, a mixture of amusement and wariness on his face. With gentle hands, he pried the stick from her fingers and tossed it into the dumpster. It landed inside with an echoing thud, similar to the hollowness inside her.
    “I really need to hit something right now,” she said, a little breathless from the surge of adrenalin brought on by his sudden appearance. “And you’re not helping.”
    “Well, not a good choice unless you want your bell rung,” he said, shaking his head. “The stick was oak, and the picnic table is metal. You’d feel it all the way to your toes.” He cocked a thick, dark eyebrow and thumped a fist on his chest. “You’re welcome to give me a punch if you think it’d make you feel better.”
    For a split second, she considered it, eyeing the expanse of muscle beneath the tight T-shirt then shook her head. He looked more formidable than the table. “How long have you been standing there?” she asked instead, cheeks flushing with embarrassment at the idea of a witness to her shame.
    Randy leaned against the dumpster, long legs crossed at the ankle, and searched his pockets for a cigarette while Karly tried to catch her breath. “Long enough to know that guy is a dick,” he replied. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I’m sorry.” The furrow between his brows deepened as his eyes searched her face. “Are you okay?”
    “Have you ever had someone rip your heart out then wave it in front of your face?” Her words came out breathy, cautious, and high-pitched. Feeling a wave of nausea, she passed a shaking hand over her eyes.
    “Can’t say that I have,” he replied, looking amused. “Sounds painful.” He studied her again, his eyes dark and unreadable. “You don’t look okay. You’re white as a sheet.”
    In his efforts to disarm her, the cigarette pack from his shirt