Trial Run: Addicted To Love Romance Collection Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Ella Medler
then skimmed over the exposed muscles of the forearm and up the thin button-down cotton shirt – not something she would have expected her brother to wear – until the turned-over collar and the jaw. A very strong jaw, stubbly. Not Jason’s jaw.
She gasped, turned around and jerked back the moment her brain computed why the voice had been familiar. Her elbow bumped the machine, which caused a small wave of coffee to slip over the rim of the cup and trickle forward over the edge of the counter and onto the floor. The splash of hot liquid on her toes propelled her into action and she grabbed at the kitchen roll, hastening to mop up the spillage.
Rob pulled her coffee cup out and lifted the machine so she could wipe underneath it.
“Sorry to make you jump,” he said, a smile in his voice. “I assumed you were awake, since you were standing almost upright.”
Rob’s chuckle caressed her ears and she smiled, completely ignoring his jibe.
“When did you get here?” She took in his relaxed appearance, messy hair and bare feet, then frowned. “Did you sleep here last night?”
“In your spare room.”
She nodded absently and reached for her coffee.
“You don’t remember, do you?” Rob asked, shaking his head.
“Remember what?”
“Probably best you don’t,” he answered.
Why couldn’t he talk straight? She hated riddles. What wasn’t she remembering? Something embarrassing, probably, since he was avoiding the subject. And then her lips froze a breath away from the edge of the cup. A chink of memory wormed its way through. Jason punching someone. Rob in the doorway, staring at her. Oh, dear God! The patch of freshly inked skin on her back suddenly burned hotter than her cheeks.
Warm coffee vapors tickled the tip of her nose as she pulled in a deep breath.
“What exactly happened last night? It’s obvious you must know, so tell it to me straight, please. I saw the tattoo this morning, so I know I ended up at the Black Tulip. I remember seeing you standing there, and Jason… Where is Jason? Did he get arrested? Is that why you’re here, looking after me like in the old days?”
Rob continued to chuckle and shake his head.
“Jason’s fine. Why would he get arrested?”
“Because the last memory I have of my brother is him beating three shits out of someone... I don’t remember why, exactly…” She blinked rapidly, frowning over her coffee again, working on ferretting out more of the memory.
“He was only defending his sister. No one died, don’t worry.”
She slurped the rest of her coffee and started off a second cup. Her fingers drifted to the tattoo on her back and she winced.
“Uncomfortable?” Rob asked. “Get some body lotion. I thought you knew how to look after a new tattoo.”
She turned on her heel and went to retrieve the lotion from her room.
“Unscented,” she heard Rob’s voice in the distance. She dropped one bottle and picked up another.
Ten minutes later, the skin on her back still tingling from the touch Rob’s fingers had left on it, she was lounging on her tummy by the pool, letting the sun draw the last of her tiredness out of her body.
More of the details had come to her as she lay there, chatting aimlessly to Rob, and she’d felt her face heat up in embarrassment when she understood what she might have looked like, stretched naked on the tattooist’s table. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have been in trouble if her brother and Rob hadn’t shown up when they did. She was even thankful for the fact they’d made sure to empty her stomach; if she felt this rough after a part-dose of roofies, she’d have hated to know what a full dose felt like.
It was then, looking sideways at Rob, that she first began wondering whether she could get him on her side. He used to like her. Judging by his smile, he was in a good mood. It wouldn’t hurt to try…
“Say, Rob, you know Jason well… and you’re a man…”
Rob laughed. “Last time I
She gasped, turned around and jerked back the moment her brain computed why the voice had been familiar. Her elbow bumped the machine, which caused a small wave of coffee to slip over the rim of the cup and trickle forward over the edge of the counter and onto the floor. The splash of hot liquid on her toes propelled her into action and she grabbed at the kitchen roll, hastening to mop up the spillage.
Rob pulled her coffee cup out and lifted the machine so she could wipe underneath it.
“Sorry to make you jump,” he said, a smile in his voice. “I assumed you were awake, since you were standing almost upright.”
Rob’s chuckle caressed her ears and she smiled, completely ignoring his jibe.
“When did you get here?” She took in his relaxed appearance, messy hair and bare feet, then frowned. “Did you sleep here last night?”
“In your spare room.”
She nodded absently and reached for her coffee.
“You don’t remember, do you?” Rob asked, shaking his head.
“Remember what?”
“Probably best you don’t,” he answered.
Why couldn’t he talk straight? She hated riddles. What wasn’t she remembering? Something embarrassing, probably, since he was avoiding the subject. And then her lips froze a breath away from the edge of the cup. A chink of memory wormed its way through. Jason punching someone. Rob in the doorway, staring at her. Oh, dear God! The patch of freshly inked skin on her back suddenly burned hotter than her cheeks.
Warm coffee vapors tickled the tip of her nose as she pulled in a deep breath.
“What exactly happened last night? It’s obvious you must know, so tell it to me straight, please. I saw the tattoo this morning, so I know I ended up at the Black Tulip. I remember seeing you standing there, and Jason… Where is Jason? Did he get arrested? Is that why you’re here, looking after me like in the old days?”
Rob continued to chuckle and shake his head.
“Jason’s fine. Why would he get arrested?”
“Because the last memory I have of my brother is him beating three shits out of someone... I don’t remember why, exactly…” She blinked rapidly, frowning over her coffee again, working on ferretting out more of the memory.
“He was only defending his sister. No one died, don’t worry.”
She slurped the rest of her coffee and started off a second cup. Her fingers drifted to the tattoo on her back and she winced.
“Uncomfortable?” Rob asked. “Get some body lotion. I thought you knew how to look after a new tattoo.”
She turned on her heel and went to retrieve the lotion from her room.
“Unscented,” she heard Rob’s voice in the distance. She dropped one bottle and picked up another.
Ten minutes later, the skin on her back still tingling from the touch Rob’s fingers had left on it, she was lounging on her tummy by the pool, letting the sun draw the last of her tiredness out of her body.
More of the details had come to her as she lay there, chatting aimlessly to Rob, and she’d felt her face heat up in embarrassment when she understood what she might have looked like, stretched naked on the tattooist’s table. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have been in trouble if her brother and Rob hadn’t shown up when they did. She was even thankful for the fact they’d made sure to empty her stomach; if she felt this rough after a part-dose of roofies, she’d have hated to know what a full dose felt like.
It was then, looking sideways at Rob, that she first began wondering whether she could get him on her side. He used to like her. Judging by his smile, he was in a good mood. It wouldn’t hurt to try…
“Say, Rob, you know Jason well… and you’re a man…”
Rob laughed. “Last time I