Kiss and Tell Read Online Free PDF Page B

strange guy. "That must get old in a hurry. You need a better quality of friends."
    He had no comment to that one.
    "If you shiver any harder, you're going to break in half. Go shower." He jerked his chin toward the open bathroom door.
    She stared wide-eyed at his clean-shaven neck a second too long before bolting.
    *
    Someone had tried to cut Jake Dolan's throat.
    And done a lousy job of it.
    The bathroom was steamy, hot, and smelled of pine soap. Marnie leaned against the door, eyes closed, the backpack dangling from her limp fingers.
    Oh, my God.
    The thin white scar on his throat loomed to gigantic proportions in her mind's eye. If the light hadn't caught the shiny sliver of a curved line at the base of his throat just so, she probably wouldn't have seen it. But now she had.
    She slid to the floor, sick to her stomach, and buried her face on her knees. Who would do such a thing? Why? How dare they?
    The race of indignation and fury she felt on his behalf shocked her. Marnie snorted back a laugh of mockery. If someone had gotten that close to Jake Dolan and Jake was alive to show off the scar, then the other guy was probably stone dead.
    "Hey! You alive in there?"
    She got to her feet. "I'm taking a while to defrost."
    "Turn on the water and lock the door," he told her irritably. It bugged her that she had to be reminded. She snicked the old-fashioned key in the lock. Cranking on the shower, she stripped quickly, then stepped into the narrow, rust-stained metal stall. She groaned as the hot water hit her cold skin. Heaven.
    Adrenaline leaked out of her as she leaned her head against the cool wall. The water poured over her head and shoulders, taking away the outer chill but leaving her still with a gaping hole of loss inside. She stayed as she was, eyes tightly closed, as the events of the last few hours replayed in her mind.
    Marnie pressed her fist against her mouth. She'd wanted more time in Grammy's cottage. More time to feel close to her grandmother before she was forced to acknowledge that she was gone forever.
    Tears fought for release in her throat, and her chest ached with the desperate need to cry. She wanted to cry, needed to cry, but her eyes remained stubbornly dry and the pressure in her chest expanded painfully. She wanted to lay her head in Grammy's lap, as she had done so many times in her life. She yearned unbearably to feel her grandmother's gentle hand stroking her hair. The pain was like a physical entity. A black hole of sorrow too deep to traverse alone.
    Yet here she was, really on her own for the first time in her life. Marnie lifted her head and rubbed the hollow ache behind her breastbone. Alone and doing a crummy job of it so far.
    The water had gone from hot to warm, and she hurriedly washed and shampooed. There was no comfort to be found in the small shower stall.
    By the time she got out, she was warm all the way through to her bones. And she remembered she'd again forgotten to bring in the towels. Darn.
    She grimaced and looked around. Should she call out to him? Let in cold air? Have him see her naked?
    The idea was dangerously appealing.
    Marnie looked longingly at the bundle of clothing he'd left for her on the counter next to the rusted sink. Then at the damp navy blue towel hanging over the towel rack beside the metal shower stall.
    He couldn't have cooties after showering, could he? If she stood around thinking about it much longer, the hot shower would have been a waste of time. She dried off with his towel. It smelled of fresh air and pine soap and wasn't too damp. She closed her eyes, imagining that the rasp of the Jake-scented towel was his callused hands skimming her damp skin.
    Perhaps the shock of having a tree almost kill her had turned her last few brain cells to mush, she thought wryly, opening her eyes and hastily drying off. He was only a man. And a belligerent, nosy one at that.
    He'd left black fleece sweatpants and a red fleece top, which was a good thing, as there was