The Seraphina Donavan Collection: Contemporary Read Online Free PDF Page A

a few escaped anyway. “I love you, Ash. Now, I'm getting to work.”
     
    ~*~*~
     
    Morgan stood in the workshop carefully measuring and cutting the trim pieces for Lexi's kitchen. His decision from the other night still gnawed at him, and so did his lust. He knew she was probably unaware of the fact that after she’d left his truck, he sat outside for a long while, watching her window, regretting his decision.
    Biting back a curse, he fed the wood through the router, creating a perfect edge. He'd just finished, allowing the saw to go quiet, when he heard the slamming of a door. Looking up, he saw Ashley stalking toward him, looking mad enough to chew glass. “Fuck.”
    His uncle, Jess, had been sitting quietly on the other side of the work shop, sanding and polishing some of the more ornate pieces of wood. He took one look at Ashley and rose, heading for the house. “You're on your own with that one, son.”
    Morgan braced himself. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but he knew that look. Putting down the pieces of wood that he'd been working on, he took off his safety glasses and waited.
    “You fucking asshole!”
    His only response was a sigh. “Probably. What have I done, now?”
    She picked up a block of wood and chucked it at him.
    Luckily for him, Ashley's aim had always been terrible. He ducked to one side, ignoring the protesting muscles in his leg. “Goddamit, Ashley. Stop throwing things!”
    “If you didn't want to go out with her, fine! But don't look at her like she's the hottest thing that ever walked and then reject her!”
    “You don't know what's going on here and it's best if you just stay out of it.” He kept his tone cool when he spoke. It hadn't escaped him that he owed Lexi an apology and an explanation, but he just hadn't worked his way around to how do it yet. Having Ashley butting into the mix, probably wouldn’t help. “I didn't reject her.”
    She all but bared her teeth at him. “You did. You took her home and then you told her you weren't interested in her and dumped her out in front of the shop and left.”
    Morgan cursed under his breath. “I never said I wasn't interested in her. I said it would be a mistake for her to get involved with me and that's the truth!”
    “Why? Give me one good reason why? You're single, she's single and you're not getting any damn younger!”
    “It's none of your damn business!”
    Ashley stamped her foot then. Literally stamped her foot like a child mid-tantrum. “The hell it isn't. She's my sister! Did you decide suddenly that she was too fat for you? Did you get embarrassed because she's not a size two?”
    This sparked Morgan's own temper. “Don't say another word like that about her.”
    “Like what? You think you're the first guy to look at her and get blinded by those big brown eyes and giant tits, only to have second thoughts?”
    “Goddamit, Ashley, don't say another word!”
    “I'm not the one she needs protecting from, Morgan! You're the one who hurt her! Because what I'm saying right now...that's what she's thinking. You did that. You!”
    He ran his hands over his face in a gesture of frustration as old as time. “It had nothing to do with that. Lexi is gorgeous.”
    She planted her hands on her hips. “Then tell me why? Why would you run out on her when you're obviously crazy about her?”
    He threw his safety goggles, the plastic cracking against the pavement. “Because I'm too fucking old for her, because I have violent nightmares where I relive watching my friends getting blown up, because my leg is more metal than bone and some days it hurts so fucking bad I can't get out of bed... Because I've spent more time killing people than I have living with them. I'm so covered in scars that when I take my clothes off—I don't even recognize myself. What the hell do I have to offer her?”
    Ashley halted then, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping. “Oh, Morgan.”
    The pity in her voice made him angrier. “I don't need