BRAVE, Episode Three - the Color of Danger Read Online Free PDF

dollar bills? Or 100’s?”
    By the time she got to Logan’s apartment, she was a quivering, sweaty mass of ectoplasm. She slammed the door and bolted it like a crazy person out of hell.
    Logan paced from room to room, from window to window, sick at heart and haggard with worry. “Where’ve you been?” he demanded. “My God, I came home early and found you gone, no note, no information, not lettin’ anybody know if somethin’ happened!”
    “Logan, I’m so sorry.” She leaned flat against the double-bolted door, steadying her trembling legs. “I went to the bank, and it took longer than I expected. See, I went to the bank,” she said and opened the tote to show him, “all by myself.” At least she’d had make up on to cover the rest of the bruises.
    He pulled her tight into his arms and held her close, one hand spread firm across the middle of her waist, the other cradling the back of her head.   “Chloe, Chloe,” he faltered. “You bein’ gone scared me to death!”
    “I was scared to death, too, Logan. But I had to do this. I had to.” She reveled in everything that was alluring about this man: the powerful thudding of his heart, the pulsing of blood in his veins, the brace of muscles from his collarbone to groin, and the sense of being wrapped up.
    She trembled all over, with the easy tears a blink away.
    “You did good, kid,” he assured her huskily. “You did good. I just wish you hadn’t gone rushin’ off on your own. I woulda gone with you.”
    She circled his body with her arms, hugging him as if she’d been gone for years instead of just hours. If he could wrap up and protect, she would try doing the same. In some aspects, men and women weren’t that different.
    “I know you would have, Logan. But I have to start doing things by myself, you see. It’s a terrifying world out there, with David in it. I find I’m peering around every corner, glancing through every window, watching everyone walking by or driving past. Just waiting for the minute when he swoops down and rips me away from here.”
    His skillful hand smoothed down the long loose hair in a caress. “You can’t hide out here forever,” he agreed gently. “But this was a big first step. I’m proud of you, Chloe. Everything will be okay, I promise you.”
    She looked up at him, wanting to trust, shrinking from trust. Nothing would be okay, ever again, as long as David existed out there.
    “Listen, swee—” Logan stopped, swallowing whatever he’d been about to say. Other than his casual “Bella Mia” of the other day, he had used no cute little pet names. Logan radiated a quiet, commanding self-confidence. Maybe he wasn’t the type.
    “Yeeeessss?”
      “Um—Listen, Chloe,” he began again, “I have to go back to Odessa for a little while. I’ve got some stuff to finish up. Wanta come along with me?”
    “Oh.” She instantly retreated, her spirit withdrawing somewhere into the distance. “No, I don’t think so. But thanks anyway for asking.”
    “Well, I’d sorta like you to see my kitchen from a different angle this time. I’d like your company. And I’d like to cook for you.”
    That tore it. Had he been one of the Wise Men, laying before her gold, or frankincense, or myrrh, he could have offered no greater gift than to give of himself and his talent. Chloe felt her throat clog up. Damn such useless sentiment.
    She’d locked it up and put it away for so long and now it bombarded the barrier she’d erected and demanded to be set free.
    “In that case, I’ll take a quick shower.” She looked up at him, at his bigness, his gentleness, his niceness, and she smiled, “And then I’d be honored to come along.”
    All the candles in heaven lit up behind his eyes. Logan-like, he simply smiled in return. “Swell.”
    The magnificence of Odessa lay on the other side of the moon by comparison to this neighborhood, only a twenty-minute drive by distance.
    Logan parked his truck in the same lot he’d used