Stand By Your Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

appeal to you?” she asked.
    Hell, yeah. But that wasn’t what she meant. He studied the contents of the fridge. “Orange juice, please.”
    â€œSure.” She extracted the carton and poured him a tall glass.
    He took a long swallow. Yeah, it tasted good. And it was healthy. Nonaddictive. One day at a time; one nonalcoholic drink at a time. Brooke Kincaid had been sober closing in on five years. A big, tough U/C ought to be as strong as a pretty, blond grandma.
    Karen poured her beer into a glass, admired it, then raised it to her lips.
    Jamal’s fingers tightened around his juice glass.
    Maybe he looked envious, because she said, “You sure you don’t want one? It’s a new business, a local brewery. They make great beer.”
    He forced himself to shake his head. “I don’t drink a lot. Doing U/C work, around booze and drugs so much of the time, it can get to be a bad habit.” And that was as close to the truth as he’d ever share. Jake was the only one who knew the truth. Though Jamal had wondered about Brooke when she’d made a point of saying that the bubbly was nonalcoholic.
    If she did know, she’d keep his secret. He was a good judge of character and he trusted her. She probably wouldn’t think less of him either. Not the way she should. Not the way he did. Not like the rest of the world—the people who weren’t alcoholics—would.
    The RCMP was good about supporting members who were recovering alcoholics. However, if Jamal’s superiors knew his secret, he might not be trusted with undercover work, and he did like the adrenaline rush every now and then. More than that, though, he didn’t want anyone knowing how he’d let his drinking get out of control. He’d always drank, could always stop—until one day, he couldn’t. That was his fucking weakness, a weakness that could have cost Jake his life. He hated that part of himself.
    It sure as hell wasn’t the way he wanted sexy Karen MacLean, with her high standards, to view him.
    The dog came into the kitchen and gazed pleadingly up at Karen.
    â€œI gave you dinner earlier.” Karen took a bone-shaped treat from a box in a bottom cupboard.
    Tennison accepted it neatly, walked over to the back door, and gazed over her shoulder.
    â€œYeah, it’s a nice night out there. Go on, enjoy.” Karen opened the door to let the animal out. “Indoor-outdoor dog,” she explained, “depending on the weather and her mood.”
    After locking the door, she led Jamal back to the living room and sat down on one side of the couch. He sat beside her, leaving a few inches between their bodies. Being invited for a drink didn’t mean an invitation to spend the night, much as that thought appealed. He’d enjoy hanging out with her and see where things went.
    She drank some beer and put her glass on the coffee table. “You really like undercover work?”
    â€œYeah.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Expand.”
    â€œUh, it’s living on the edge and doing something worthwhile at the same time.”
    â€œDid you always want to do it?”
    He nodded. He wanted to take down the kind of people who’d fucked up his parents’ lives. Who fucked up so many lives. Besides, as a tough guy loner, it suited him. Just like it suited his buddy. “Jake and me, we met in training. Discovered we both had the same goal, to go undercover. We fast-tracked the system to get past the grind to the good stuff. Wrote the undercover exam when we were five years in, and we’ve been doing the work ever since.”
    â€œWhat I do is the grind?”
    â€œWell . . .” Thank God she sounded more amused than offended. “Your work needs to be done. Sounds like you enjoy it.”
    She nodded firmly. “I do. And I like doing it in a small town.”
    â€œYou said you’re a fixer and some of the problems seem