Blood Haze Read Online Free

hand against her back. “No, of course not. Maggie, I’ll see you on
Monday.”
    “It
was nice to you meet you,” Maggie said.
    “Yes,
same here,” Arabella responded automatically.
    As
Drew leaned forward to place money on the table to cover their bill, Arabella
caught the ever-watchful eyes of Lynx Rogan. He raised his eyebrows in
question, but she quickly looked away, embarrassed.  

 
    Drew
was pensive on the drive home. She sat silently watching him for a long while.
Unease had her looking away to stare unseeingly out of the window. “I’m sorry
we had to cut our evening short,” she said quietly without looking at him…
afraid to look at him.
    “It
is, what it is,” he said noncommittally.
    Her
stomach muscles tightened. Was it fair to keep forcing him to endure scenes like
what had just been played out? Not once, but twice? Not really wanting to know
the answer, she asked perversely, “Are you happy, Drew?”
    Silence
met her words and she turned her head to see him purse his lips. With a slight
shrug, he finally said, “For the most part.”
    His
evasive answer made her feel off-kilter. “Maggie seems nice.”
    “She
is. A bit young, but nice enough,” he replied, his tone indicating his discomfort
at the course of the conversation… or his guilt. Arabella just couldn’t be
sure.
    “She
seems… uncomplicated,” she said softly, as her own insecurity rose up within
her.
    Drew
gave her a questioning glance before turning back to the road. “Well, she is a woman, so she has her own levels of
complication,” he said with a slight laugh.
    Arabella
gave a slow nod of her head, before turning once again to stare out the window
as they passed the familiar landmarks she’d seen for most of her life.
    “Do
you want to tell me what’s going on?” Drew asked.
    “Nothing,”
she replied softly.
    “Do
you want to talk about your glimpsing earlier?”
    She
blinked as the images replayed in her mind. “No,” she whispered.
    “Arabella,
the women at the bar were jerks.”
    She
allowed her head to loll against the headrest and looked at his profile. The
green lights from the dash gave his beautiful features an ashen hue. He’d been
her defender for most of her life. It apparently was a hard habit for him to
break. “It’s not that… not really. It’s just, well… I know I’m a lot to take
on.”
    He
pulled up in front of her house and parked the car. He switched off the
ignition, and turned to face her. He studied her for a long moment before
lifting a hand and gently traced her features. She couldn’t help but remember
when Lynx Rogan had done exactly the same thing. But she didn’t gasp at Drew’s
touch, instead, it just felt comfortable. She had some serious issues. She
closed her eyes so he couldn’t see her errant thoughts. This was Drew… she
loved him… he was her best friend.
    “You are a lot to take on sometimes,” he
agreed. “But I love you anyway. What’s going on?” he asked softly, as he
continued to caress her face.
    “You
seemed so carefree and happy with Maggie.”
    His
hand stilled momentarily as he stiffened before brushing her hair behind her
ear. “And you don’t think I’m that way with you?”
    She
leaned into his hand, the same hand that had held hers on their first date at
the movies; the same hand that had touched her so gently the first time they’d
made love; the same hand which had held hers when it seemed the whole town had
turned against her family; and the same hand that had held her when she’d
fallen apart when first her father died, then her mother. She stared up into
his eyes and whispered, “Not in a very long time.”
    “You’ve
heard all my old jokes, hundreds of times already… Maggie hasn’t,” he said,
dropping his hand.
    “I
want you to be happy… you deserve to be happy,” she told him simply.
    He
brushed his lips against her forehead. “Again, I am for the most part.”
    “Happy
or comfortable?”
    His
eyebrows scrunched,