Straight From The Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

wall. When I saw the bruises I knew what had happened.”
    The rush of emotion Stephen felt was totally out of proportion to the circumstances. Yes, he was infuriated. Yes, he was disgusted and sickened. But the need to comfort and hold Kim and wrap himself around her was an unwelcome yet overwhelming desire. He was left speechless, spent, as if he’d run a marathon. And it took all of his not inconsiderable will to hide the freight train of emotions that rushed through him from Betsy Reed’s knowing eyes.
    But she was too upset herself to pick up the vibes. “If he gets custody of Bobby, it’ll kill Kim.”
    “It won’t happen.”
    “How do you know? Our firm is representing him, for crying out loud!”
    “Harden’s a bad witness,” Stephen responded bluntly. “Robert said as much to the man’s face. He blusters and talks big. The judge would award custody to Kim even if she weren’t the best choice.”
    “You’re sure?” Betsy gazed at him pleadingly.
    Yes, he’d been sure. Certain to the tips of his toes. But it still had been a relief to hear the outcome in Kim’s favor. When she’d blasted him on the courtroom steps he’d had no defense of his own. He’d deserved some of it because when Alan had first brought him the custody case, he’d painted Kim out to be some kind of self-serving bitch. Though Stephen had known better, he’d half believed the man. His own experience with Pauleen was partially to blame, and he’d made himself believe it was Kim who’d been lying, not Alan. Still, it was no excuse, and he’d taken Kim’s verbal battering as his due.
    And so, now what? he asked himself, gazing at Kim in the firelight. She’d turned her face away while he’d traveled through this lightning introspection. Now she stared fixedly at the flames, a means of shutting him out and pulling away without physically moving.
    If he were ever going to be given the opportunity to explain himself to her, this was it. Yet, there really was no excuse. He hadn’t taken Alan Harden’s case, but he also hadn’t thrown him out on his ear. And when Betsy had blurted out Harden’s true nature, Stephen hadn’t charged after him and rendered the man serious physical harm (his first, most burning desire). Instead, he’d quietly warned Robert about a rumor he’d heard and let Jackson handle Harden any way he chose. Confronted with his abuse, Harden blustered and whined and denied, and Robert Jackson went ahead with the custody suit.
    It was the way some cases went.
    Still, the whole thing had left a bad taste in Stephen’s mouth, and at some level he’d wanted to clear it up with Kim. And here, here, was the perfect opportunity. So, what was stopping him?
    “I’m not really hungry,” Kim suddenly said. “I think I’ll just go to bed.”
    He had a sudden vision of her lying between the sheets, hair tossed in a silken heap across the pillow, eyes closed, breath soft and even, her expression gentle and sweet. He imagined her naked, her skin smooth and lustrous.
    “You sure you want the love seat?” she asked, her face still averted.
    “It’s fine,” he answered shortly.
    “I’m smaller. It would be easier for me to curl up here.”
    “I’m not interested in sleeping right now. Go ahead. I’ll be perfectly fine.”
    Now, she darted him a look, questions hovering in her eyes. But she was clearly too upset to delve into what was eating at him, and for that he was glad. She was eating at him. He hadn’t wanted any woman since his divorce, though scores had thrown themselves at him as soon as they learned he was unattached. He hadn’t even wanted to date. Pauleen had cured him of that—he’d thought forever.
    But Kimberly Harden got to him. In ways he didn’t want to think about.
    So, now, when she hesitantly said goodnight and slipped away, Stephen found it was all he could do not to let his gaze follow after her, devouring her. The soft click of the door closing brought him back to