Battle Lines. Read Online Free PDF Page A

vulnerable.
    “I… I.” she stopped as she tried to get her brain to work.
    “I… I… what?” he asked her. His voice deep and low. Almost calm.
    “I have only been back a few days.” She lied.
    “Ah yes, well that would explain it then.” He told her sarcastically.
    “I haven’t had a chance to catch up with everyone yet.” Another lie but she did not care. She did not owe him anything after all.
    Jake sneered scornfully he always saw right through her and it would appear that he had not lost the knack for it. Curse him, curse him to hell and back… well, maybe not back.
    “I spent some time trying to locate you.” He told her now. Yes, she bet he had, but she did not say it, that was an argument that she did not want to have with him. “To let you know about Dad.” He finished.
    “He was my father.” Instantly bristling at his words. “You were just adopted.”
    For a fleeting moment she thought she had seen a flash of pain in his eyes, but then it was gone quickly. And just as quickly she dismissed it. Nothing she could say could possibly affect him she decided.
    “I see you haven’t grown up at all since you have been gone… pity. It would have been nice to see you acting more elegantly.” He stated.
    “Don’t you dare think you can judge me.” Her chin shot up.
    “Don’t you dare think that you can lie to me.” Jake shot back at her. “Well.” He sighed. “It was a bit of a shock to see you. What shall I tell mother? She has been going through hell and back worrying about you.” He ground those last words out through clenched teeth.
    She could see that pulse ticking away in his neck again. He may be holding on to it but he was as angry as hell.
    Guilty Amanda flushed a deep crimson. She did feel bad, of course she did, and she knew she should have called home. Let her parents know that she was okay. She had wanted too many times. She had desperately wanted her mother to know that she was safe and well. She had desperately wanted to hear her mother’s voice.
    She had picked up the phone many times but then she had replaced the receiver without ever dialling the number.
    If she had of called Amanda knew that her mother would have been sure to have told Jake, Amanda knew Jake all too well. He would have wasted no time in tracking her down and then he would have dragged her back kicking and screaming the first chance he got.
    The situation that had existed between them had been so intense that it had frightened her. So much so, that she had not dared to dial her mother’s number.
    When she had come back six months ago, she had managed to convince herself that she was now finally ready to face Jake again. That she was over it and him, not that there had been anything to get over, she reminded herself sternly.
    Now, standing here face to face with the man that had always had her at a disadvantage she knew that she was far from over it or him.
    Feelings that she had managed to bury a long time ago resurfaced and threatened to consume her with their intensity.
    It had been a huge mistake to come back. She knew that now it was a shame that she had not seen it before she had come back. But she had desperately wanted to make contact with her mother again.
    She could feel tears burning her eyes blinding her vision. Attempting to be strong she impatiently blinked them away. It was best not to dwell too much on the past. What ever happened in the past has already happened. And she knew that she could not go back and change any of it, no matter how much she wished she could.
    “I don’t know.” She told him now. The first honest words out of her mouth tonight.
    “I will need to tell her something.” He pointed out.
    “Why do you feel the need to tell her anything at all?”
    “She will want to know.”
    “It is none of your business.” She snapped at him.
    “We are family.” He said.
    “No, we are not family.” She told him. “It… might be better not to say anything at all.” She