Wyne and Chocolate (Citizen Soldier Series Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

if I had pushed harder to have Donny seek help in the beginning
he’d—”
    “No.”
Lea shook her head and tightened her hold on Jill’s hand. “Don’t do that to
yourself.”
    Gwen set
a hand on her shoulder and stared down at her. “My sister’s right, Jill.
Gambling is an addiction like alcohol and drugs. The person has to want help,
to seek help, or no amount of counseling will work.”
    The
former model sounded as if she was speaking from experience, and apparently
Jill wasn’t the only one who picked up on the sad tone. Lea was now studying
her sister closely.
    “What
happened, Gwen?” The brunette released her to grab her sister’s wrist before
the pale woman could walk away. “And don’t tell me nothing. Successful super
models don’t just up and quit the business to go home and wait tables.”
    The
stunning woman shook her head. “I’m not ready to talk about it, yet.”
    Lea sighed.
“Okay. But you know you can tell me anything.”
    Nodding,
the blonde blinked away a sheen of tears from her eyes, and Jill’s heart ached
for the waitress, totally understanding deep pain and the need to keep it to
yourself.
    “And me,
too,” Jill rushed to say. “That’s what friends are for, right? To have each
others’ backs?”
    Gwen
smiled a real smile that reached her eyes. “Right,” she said, stepping closer
to the table. “We do, so, just remember, that goes both ways.”
    “Got
it.” She nodded.
    “Okay.
I’d better get back in the kitchen before Dad decides to rearrange the spices
again.” The beauty winked at them before walking away.
    Lea
leveled her with a look, gratification warming her troubled gaze. “Thanks for
backing me up with Gwen. I know something’s wrong, but she won’t talk about
it.”
    “No
problem,” she said. “I got the same impression.”
    Her
friend nodded, then blew out a breath and smiled. “All right, enough with the
past. This is a celebratory breakfast. Let’s eat while the food is moderately
warm. Did you bring what I asked?”
    “Yep.”
She withdrew a small container of her special melted chocolate from her purse
and handed it to her friend. “Bon appetite.”
    “Amen.
Your chocolate rules.” Lea swiped the container from her hands then poured most
the contents on a stack of pancakes before handing it back to Jill.
    She
laughed and emptied the contents on her food.
    Three
quarters of the way through her delicious stack of chocolate covered chocolate
chip pancakes, she glanced up as the door open and half the Wyne brothers
walked in. The middle ones. Mason and Ben, who zagged then zigged to their
table while awareness travelled the same haphazard path straight to Jill’s good
parts.
    Stupid
body always had that reaction whenever Mason entered a room. He changed the atmosphere…the
ingredients. His irresistible presence mixed with hers to cause a chemical
reaction she was clueless to dissect. So she’d learned to ignore it as best she
could.
    From a
safe distance.
    That
strategy had seen her through the past year, but was impossible to carry out
when the enigmatic man dropped into the booth beside her as his brother slid in
next to a grinning Lea.
    “Hey,
handsome,” her friend said before laying a lip-lock on the guy.
    Blushing,
Jill returned her attention to her plate and stared at her decimated pancakes,
unsure if the couple’s enthusiasm was the cause of her flush, or Mason.
The man was hot. Literally. Heat seeped into her wherever their bodies brushed,
making her nice and toasty…and hungry. 
    The
sudden urge to decimate him was new.
    She
could feel his attention on her, so she pushed her sunglasses up her nose and
continued to stare at her plate, willing the tempting man to look away. Think
of something else. Anything else .
    The cold
weather. It was cold. And snowy.
    The
hottie next to her could keep her warm.
    Dang,
that wasn’t working. Her car, or lack thereof. Her insurance company had
declared it totaled and would be issuing a check