FAST RIDE Read Online Free PDF Page B

forgotten.” She laid a small white box on the glass kitchen table.
    “What’s this?” he asked.
    “Libby ordered a bracelet for one of the nurses at the clinic. It turned out really nice. Would you like to see it?”
    “Sure.” Kenny pushed his bowl out of the way as Holly lifted the lid on the box and pulled out a bracelet made of amber glass beads and pewter spacers. “That is nice.”
    She smiled then sniffed. “Thanks. Tell Libby she can pay me whenever. There’s no hurry.”
    “Is Jordan with his father this weekend?” he asked as she started to back away from the table.
    He heard another sniff. “Uh, huh.” Turning, she headed toward the door.
    Disappointment settled in. Jordan hadn’t been around much either lately. And with Libby gone all weekend that meant it was going to be pretty quiet around here. And lonely.
    “Holly, do you have a cold?” he asked, partly out of concern and partly because he didn’t want her to leave. Just because she’d changed her mind about wanting to sleep with him didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. Friends? Where the hell had that come from?
    She stopped in the middle of the kitchen and pivoted around to face him. “No, why?”
    “I don’t know. You look kind of puffy-eyed and I heard you sniffling.”
    Smiling sadly, she shrugged. “Maybe it’s allergies.”
    “Did you take anything for them?”
    She shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she said and this time he saw her swipe at a tear. “I have to go.”
    “Wait a minute! Why are you crying?”
    Blinking, she pulled a wilted tissue from the pocket of her overalls and blew her nose. “I’m not crying.”
    “The hell you’re not,” he said in a low grumble.
    “Okay, I was crying, but I’m not anymore. See?” She gave him a big, toothy smile.
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    “It’s nothing. No big deal.” Her tongue made a swipe across her top lip.
    “Let me guess. You ran out of cucumbers.”
    He expected her to at least smile over his little joke, but instead she burst into tears and started toward the door again.
    “Whoa! I was only kidding.” He pushed away from the table and rolled after her. “Don’t go.”
    She touched the door handle, and then turned around to face him. Her eyes were rimmed in red and her bottom lip jutted forward in a big pout.
    “Holly, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was being a jerk.” He lightly touched her hand. “Come sit down.”
    She nodded, moved away from the door and followed him. Kenny pulled out a kitchen chair and waited for her to sit, then grabbed a mug from the counter and set it in front of her.
    “There’s some coffee in the butler,” he said, nodding toward the center of the table. “It should still be hot.” When she didn’t reach for it, he opened the thermos and filled the mug for her. He knew she drank it black, like him.
    He wheeled his chair so it was adjacent to hers. “Now, tell me what has you so upset. I promise I’ll be a good listener.”
    After wiping the moisture from her cheeks with the sleeves of her T-shirt, she reached for the mug of hot liquid and gripped it with both hands. She took a small sip and swallowed. “Chloe’s pregnant.”
    Chloe was Holly’s ex-husband’s girlfriend. Kenny shrugged. “Things like that happen.”
    “When Greg and I were married, I wanted to have a brother or sister for Jordan, but Greg wanted to wait. He said he didn’t think he wanted any more children.”
    “So, he changed his mind.”
    “Yes. He dropped that bomb when he came to pick up Jordan this morning. You should have seen his face when he told me he was going to be a father again. He was so happy, he hugged me. I wanted to slap him!”
    Kenny could understand that. The guy was an asshole. He didn’t want to ask, but couldn’t stop himself. “Do you still love him, Holly?”
    She hesitated before answering, which tore at his insides for some reason.
    Setting her coffee aside, she said, “I think I