Whiskey Girl Read Online Free Page A

the corners of his eyes
were smoothed out. There was no laughter there. He was absolutely dead serious.
Holy mother of God! Where had he come from and how had she managed to get
herself into such a predicament? How could the man not know when to leave good
enough alone?
    Forget that, how she was doing and where
she was mentally and emotionally were none of his damn business. Taking as deep
of a breath as she could, Ausha planted her palms flat on his chest. Then,
looking him right in the eye, she pushed. “Back up.” She added “please” for
good measure when it didn’t appear he was going to listen.
    Maybe she was going at this all wrong. Her
grandmother used to say something about catching more flies with honey. Since
all else failed, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.
    “I thank you for wanting to help me. I
really do.” If that didn’t sound sincere, nothing would. “But I don’t want your
boot or anything else.” Ausha cut herself off there because the more she said
the more agitated she felt.
    His gaze didn’t move from her face once and
for the first time he smiled. “I know you don’t, darlin’. Doesn’t change the
way of it though. I’ll help and you’ll call me every name in the book, but
sooner or later, you’ll remember what it’s like to feel alive again.”
    Ausha lifted her arms then dropped them to
her sides. She felt utterly exhausted. Doug was like a slow-moving train taking
down anything in its path.
    “God damn it! I don’t want to remember. I
don’t want to live. Don’t you get it?” She blinked rapidly. She absolutely
would not cry in front of him again.
    “Oh I get it all right, but you will all
the same. You’ll remember, you’ll hurt, you’ll fight.” He finally let go of her
hair then touched the corner of her eye with a single finger. “You’ll even cry.
And then you will pick your ass up and live, with purpose. I’m going to make
sure of it.”
    Ausha could think of nothing to say. She
was out of bitter retorts. Only one word pressed against her lips for freedom.
“Why?”
    Doug smiled then, really smiled. “Because I
like you.”

Chapter Three
     
    Their little confrontation had taken nearly
as much out of him as he knew it had Ausha. Doug was aware in every fiber of
his being that the journey he’d set for himself was going to be an exhausting
one. The knowledge didn’t deter him one iota. What bugged him was knowing Ausha
was going to have to hurt more before she could heal.
    The breath whooshed from his lungs as his
taped fingers connected with the punching bag one more time. Sweat dripped from
his brow and off the end of his nose, but he didn’t take the time to wipe it
away. Instead, he continued to take on the bag with every emotion in him. By
the time he was done, he felt drained and depleted, but in a good way.
    As he removed the tape binding his fingers,
he stared up at the blue sky. It was a cloudless autumn day with just enough
chill in the air to remind a person winter was coming. Hanging the bag off the
eave of his home had been a good idea. He enjoyed being outside. It seemed to
help clear his head.
    Doug couldn’t help but wonder if placing
himself in Ausha’s emotional line of fire would be positive for either of them.
He knew damn well he wasn’t a therapist and had no intention of pretending to
be one, but he was also well aware that regardless of his training, or lack of,
she needed a push. He intended to be the one to do the pushing.
    Two days had passed since their little
powwow. He figured she needed some time to get used to the idea she was no
longer alone, and so he’d granted her the time. She accepted his telephone
calls, if grudgingly, based on the tone of her voice. Even though he’d spoken
to her at least twice a day, Doug found himself missing her something fierce.
    She had an energy about her that was
mesmerizing to him. It was hard for Doug to imagine how strong her pull would
be when she was finally free from the hell