Guarding Kelsey ((Books We Love Romantic Suspense)) Read Online Free PDF Page B

went in search of him.
    All the doors along the corridor were open wide. A scraping sound emanated from her bedroom. She entered as Wolf slid her queen size bed across the carpet. Soft, worn denim encased powerful legs and a really great rear-end. Heat infused her face. Now, why had she noticed that?
    She’d lost her mind. And control of her home as well. "What are you doing?"
    "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm moving the bed out of range of the window."
    "We are up fourteen floors and the window has blinds. Who is going to know where my bed is?"
    "Someone who has been in your apartment at least once."
    His reminder that her home had already been broken into sent a chill down her spine. Still, he should have asked first instead of taking over as if he owned the place. "Wouldn't it be easier if I slept in the other bedroom or in the living room?"
    Wolf stood up. "Yes it would. But we both know if I suggested it, you would have refused."
    "I have no desire to end up dead, Detective Krieger. Despite my hair color, I’m not the dumb blonde you seem to take me for."
    “I never said you were.”
    “So far you’ve questioned my morals, my intelligence and my honesty. And I’m supposed to feel safe with you here?”
    His eyes narrowed to angry slits. She seemed to touch a raw nerve. "You know, Kelsey. With a mouth like yours it's no wonder . ." Wolf cut off the sentence abruptly.
    Since he obviously knew about her marriage, she could guess what he started to say. "Go ahead and finish it."
    She paused for an answer, but he said nothing.
    "It's no wonder my husband beat me up? Right?”
    “No!”
    She cut him off with the wave of a hand. “Because we all know that any woman who refuses to ask her father for money once she's married deserves three broken ribs while she's still on her honeymoon. Right, Detective?"
    “That wasn’t what I was going to say. Would you listen for a second?”
    "Forget it," she whispered, her voice choked from the painful memory. "Do whatever the hell you want with the room."
    She stormed down the hall to the bathroom and locked herself inside. A hollow ache settled over her chest. Normally, she looked back on her short marriage with anger at her own naivety. Her father warned her about men who chased after women with money but she foolishly believed Jason Winston was different. He never gave any indication that he knew of her family finances. Until they were married. Her first clue came when she hung up the phone from telling her father about her elopement and Jason asked, "How much did your father give us for a present?" He didn't like the answer.
    His first fit of temper had only destroyed a few household items. Her later refusal to access her trust fund had sent him over the edge. His rage unleashed, she saw a side of Jason he’d completely hidden before their marriage. His acting skills were phenomenal, because she never suspected that her charming, attentive fiancé had a dark side.
    To this day, she wasn’t sure which had hurt more-- the physical abuse or the verbal attack that had shattered her self-confidence. Although she had left him immediately, the emotional scars had stayed with her for years.
    She wasn’t surprised that Wolf knew about her past. The police had access to any information they needed. But why did they need that kind of information on her? She wasn't the one who'd committed a crime.
     
    * * *
    *
    Wolf waited in the dining room, cursing his insensitivity. He never meant to imply that Kelsey deserved physical abuse only that her sassy mouth probably landed her in trouble. No excuse justified physical abuse, no matter what the provocation. He’d seen it too many times in his work and it always made him sick. It would probably be best for everyone concerned if his boss removed him from this detail before he did any more damage. To do his job effectively, he needed to have her trust. He wasn’t off to a good start.
    She walked into the dining room with her head held