Moonlight Read Online Free PDF Page B

you safe, but I could.”
    The way he said the words, the look in his eyes, stopped me in my tracks. My pulse thrummed and part of me wondered if he could possibly be as attracted to me as I was to him. I blinked. No one should be allowed to have eyes that mesmerizing. “What do you want from me?”
    “I don’t want anything.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’d like to help you get rid of these guys chasing after you, and maybe get to know you better. That’s all.”
    For a moment, my heart leapt at the thought that this hunk of a man with the most amazing smile I’d ever seen wanted to spend time with me. But before I could open my mouth, my brain started to function again. Just because he wanted to be with me, didn’t mean I would be safe. Between the threat of being locked away in a mental institution or hunted by a pack of angry werewolves, getting out of town was a no-brainer.
    But knowing he wanted me to stay made my insides flutter.
    I looked down at my hands. “It’d be nice to stay, but you said it yourself—if the other wolves in your Pack find out they’ll make me leave. Or worse.”
    “They don’t have to know you’re here.” He pushed his thick hair back from his forehead. “I know this is a lot, and you still don’t really believe me about being a shifter, but I can prove it to you. You’ve got abilities you haven’t tapped into yet.”
    I bit my lip, tempted again by his offer to show me. Like the rest of him wasn’t tempting enough. What was I doing? I couldn’t stay here. Could I?
    While I mulled over his offer, the filter between my brain and my mouth vanished again. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
    “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
    My inner foster kid smirked. “Oh, that’s a good one.” I rolled my eyes. “Does that usually work with the women you date?”
    “God, you’re a pain in the ass.” He leaned against the front grill of the Jeep, crossing his arms. I tried not to notice the way his muscles stressed the sleeves of his shirt. “Yes, I can be smooth when I need to be, but this isn’t it. This is just me wanting to be with you.” He shook his head. “I’ve never had to work this hard to get a woman to spend time with me. I wish I could stop trying, but I look in your eyes and…” He shook his head and straightened from the Jeep. “Forget it.”
    I took slow breath, doing my best to organize my thoughts. “All of this is a lot for me to take in. Add to it that some guys with guns are looking for me, and then there’s your Pack…”
    A couple came out of the donut shop, interrupting me. They held hands, laughing. Happy. I knew in reality not everyone was, but I’d been alone for so long that I often watched couples with hungry, greedy eyes, wanting that illusive feeling of unity, of being someone’s favorite person in the world.
    I’d never felt it before, so the simplest solution was to decide it didn’t really exist. It can’t hurt you if it’s not real.
    But now I was staring at a man who had watched over me, and left me a photo and folded my clothes while I was running around the darkness as some kind of jungle cat. In fact, he could have called his buddies and probably killed me if he wanted to, but he didn’t. He helped me without asking for anything in return.
    I trembled at the thought. Hope was a terrifying emotion.
    He held his hand out to me, palm up. For a moment I only stared at his gesture, but finally I found myself placing my hand in his.
    The corner of Adam’s mouth quirked and threatened to weaken my knees. “Nothing complicated, all right? We’ll just start with breakfast.”
    He guided me to the door, and I did my best not to obsess over how good his warm hand felt at the back of my waist. Adam held the door open, overwhelming me with the delicious sweet scent of fresh donuts. My stomach growled in anticipation.
    We walked up to the glass case and I wandered to the other end, eyeing the apple fritters.