The Seraphina Donavan Collection: Contemporary Read Online Free PDF

you feeling sorry for me...and I sure as hell don't want Lexi feeling sorry for me.”
    “I don't feel sorry for you—I'm sorry you got hurt, and I don't mean just physically. But right now, I just think you're a dumbass.”
    “What?”
    Ashley leaned against the work table and looked at him much the way someone would look at a dog that was too stupid to be taught tricks. “Do you think she cares about your scars? Nightmares eventually fade Morgan...Lexi has plenty of her own. Did you know that when she was thirteen she had to move in with Brent and me because our stepfather got a little too friendly? Or that when she was in high school she was the butt of so many jokes and vicious pranks that she would get physically sick before going to school?”
    “Where's your stepfather?”
    “You don't need to kill him. He died of a heart attack outside a strip club in Nashville...The point is, you're not the only one who has a past and has demons. And right now, Lexi's demons aren't telling her that you've got issues. They're telling her you didn't find her attractive for the same reason those vicious fucks in high school didn't...because she's the fat girl.”
    “That's not it. That's not it at all. She's perfect.”
    “Then tell her. Go tell her that, and stop being a fucking martyr and making you both miserable...It's better to regret a relationship not working than to regret it never starting.” With that parting shot, Ashley rose to her full but still diminutive height and sauntered off.
    Morgan watched her go, her words ringing in his head. It had never occurred to him that Lexi would ever believe his retreat had been about anything but him. “God, I'm an asshole.”
    “You got that right, son.”
    Morgan glanced up to see Jess standing in the doorway. “You want to take your pound of flesh, too?”
    Jess shook his head sadly, before pushing his cap back on his head. “First off, you're an idiot. I love you. Couldn't love you anymore if you were my own son...but there's not a woman alive who doesn't think it's about her looks when a man leaves her or turns her down. I reckon you get a pass on that, being as how you haven't been around 'em that much the last twenty years.”
    “There were women in the military.”
    “No. There were soldiers who happened to be female. Doesn't matter if you're male or female, the military changes how you look at things. Realigns your priorities...They did it to me before Vietnam, and they did it to you. Sometimes, it takes a while to get your thinking right when you're amongst civilians again. Sometimes, it never gets right, and you can't afford to wait around for that. Go buy that girl some flowers and convince her to make babies with you.”
    “Do you think I can take her on a date before we decide that?”
    Jess laughed. “You can try.
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    L exi stared at the crates of supplies and shook her head. The new deliveryman had simply wheeled all the stuff in and dumped it in the middle of her kitchen. Lugging fifty pound tubs of flour and sugar wasn’t how she’d planned to spend her morning. With a sigh, she opened the door to the small closet that was her pantry and pulled out the hand truck. It would help somewhat.
    Normally, work didn't bother her. She loved her shop, but her mood and her bruised ego were making enthusiasm hard to muster. She’d just shifted the first load from the kitchen to the narrow pantry when she heard the door open. Struggling to hoist one of the tubs onto the metal shelving, she called out that she’d be just a minute.
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    The weight of the tub was instantly gone, a pair of strong arms coming around her and shoving it onto the shelf with apparent ease. Turning, she found herself staring into Morgan Donnelly’s green eyes, their faces only inches apart. Not for the first time, she wished she were taller, but the impetus for that now wasn't the desire to be closer to his too-perfect lips framed so