Hopelessly Broken Read Online Free PDF

actually a good thing, her leaving. She was weird. And I didn’t like her.”
    “Wow.” Aeron grimaced.
    “Anyway, a worker from Human Services just showed up at our house today, asking to speak to my aunt’s fictitious son. I made him up. You know. To buy some time?”
    His lips twitched. It wasn’t a smile. It wasn’t a frown. “Yeah?”
    Jenn couldn’t read Aeron’s expression. She had no idea what he was thinking. She blurted, “What do you think about pretending to be my older cousin?”
    He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.

 
     
     
     
     
Four
     
    He couldn’t have planned this better. Here he had been struggling to gain Logan’s trust because of Logan’s sister, and now the opportunity of a lifetime had just fallen into his lap.
    It was perfect.
    But…
    Logan ’s sister hadn’t stopped talking since she’d asked him to pose as her cousin.
    “You’ll have to lie and say you’re living with us. But it won’t be for long, only a couple of weeks until I’m eighteen. Then I can petition the court to become Logan’s legal guardian. I have a steady source of income. So there won’t be a problem.”
    Her eyes were so wide, so pleading.
    So beautiful.
    Her gorgeous face was creased with tiny lines of worry and fear, dark shadows staining the fine skin under her eyes.
    He’d done well up to this point, finding a way to gain his clients’ trust while avoiding getting too close to other family members. Up till now.
    There was something about Jennifer, something special. She wasn’t like the other girls, the ones he screwed for fun. Party girls. Easy girls. Fun girls. It wasn’t just how she looked; she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever met. She gave off this strange combination of strength and vulnerability. He didn’t just want to hook up with her for sex. He wanted to…know her. What would happen if he were forced to spend time with her? Alone?
    No, he couldn’t do it. He was only human. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to someone his age, had a real conversation with a girl. Sure, he’d had sex. Plenty of it. He could always find girls willing to sleep with him. But sex was sex. It took care of some needs. But not all of them. He liked Jennifer. What if she liked him too?
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t.”
    Her lip started quivering, and his gut twisted.
    Oh damn. Oh damn. His gaze locked on her mouth. She didn’t know what she was asking. But there was no use trying to explain it. Soon he would be leaving again, his next case taking him to God-only-knew where. Personal relationships weren’t possible. Not for him. Only physical ones. Brief. No-strings.
    But that did n’t mean he didn’t feel lonely. That didn’t mean he didn’t long to spend hours and hours talking to someone who truly knew him.
    Never before had that aching been so powerful. So overwhelming.
    She did it to him. Jennifer. It was those eyes of hers. They pulled him in like a strong tide dragging a boat toward the reef. In the end, if he surrendered, they would both be destroyed. And then what?
    “Please,” she said. “I realize you don’t know us very well. But if they take Logan away from me, I won’t have anything, anyone. They’ll all be gone. Everyone who mattered.”
    He knew that pain. He had been there before.
    “And Logan , she continued. “God only knows where they’ll take him. They could send him far away, to another state.”
    That possibility hadn’t entered his mind. Until now. If Logan was moved suddenly, and he couldn’t find out where he was in time, that could put his whole case at risk.
    But…
    She added, “For some reason, Logan trusts you. I’m too scared to trust you, or anyone for that matter. But I’m desperate enough to put aside my fears and ask you for his sake. For Logan.”
    She was trembling all over now. Aeron’s arms burned. He wanted to hold her until she wasn’t afraid anymore.
    Where the hell was this coming from?