Under His Care Read Online Free PDF Page A

enemy, a stranger, someone he didn’t care about at all. I can’t understand how someone could treat a person that way if they truly loved them.”
    “I know what you mean,” Nicole said. “But I’ve also seen both sides of it. I’ve been where you’re standing now, and I’ve seen how a man can change and become his very best self under the right circumstances.”
    “I can’t believe Red would ever treat you that way.”
    Nicole hesitated. “I don’t really like to think of our worst moments, but there were a few that were incredibly devastating.”
    Kennedy didn’t want to pressure Nicole into talking about something that made her uncomfortable. But it was comforting to know that Nicole had been through a similar situation in the past. And just having her sister’s voice in her ear was so new to Kennedy, she didn’t want this time on the phone to end.
    “What do you think? Was I wrong to walk away from Easton?” Kennedy asked, after Nicole didn’t follow up on her statement.
    “I can’t say,” Nicole replied. “I don’t really know your situation well enough, and besides—I’m not you. Only you can decide what’s right for you.”
    “That’s true,” Kennedy said, pulling on her lower lip.
    “But I can tell you that I think it’s important you demand to be treated with respect. These men—people like Kane Wright and Red and Easton—they’re very powerful, intimidating and charismatic. They’re used to getting their own way, and having women fall all over them.”
    “I pretty much fell at Easton’s feet,” Kennedy admitted.
    “I was the same with Red,” Nicole told her. “In the beginning, anyway. But then I eventually realized that if I wanted to be worth more to him, I had to start seeing myself as having value, and demanding that he see me that way too.”
    “And it worked?”
    “I can’t promise anything for you, Kennedy. I’m just telling you my experience.”
    Kennedy thought about it, her brow furrowing. “It hurts being away from him. My stomach is in knots and I keep thinking about him, missing him. Wishing he’d call me.”
    “If he truly cares, he’ll come for you again,” Nicole told her. “Don’t imagine that Easton can find another woman as amazing as you so easily. He’ll be missing you too.”
    “You really think so?” Kennedy asked, smiling, her cheeks burning.
    “I really do,” Nicole laughed. “I’ll be checking back in to see how you’re holding up tomorrow,” Nicole added.
    “Thanks for being there for me,” Kennedy told her.
    “Always,” Nicole said.

    ***

    Kennedy felt good enough to go out for groceries and then she spent the rest of the day on the couch again.
    When Blake got home from work, he invited her to his apartment for dinner, and she said yes. At first, she was unsure about giving Blake the wrong idea again—but she was lonely and bored and didn’t want to keep checking her cell phone another two hundred times.
    In any case, Blake let her into his apartment with a quick, friendly but platonic feeling hug that put her at ease. “Want anything to drink?” he asked, walking into the kitchen. “I’ve got soda, juice, wine, water…”
    “God, definitely not wine,” Kennedy said, as she followed him in.
    Blake was putting on an apron and tying it, which made her smile. He put out his arms and spun around. “Do I look good or what?”
    “Very,” she laughed. “Now you just need the hat to go with it.”
    He snapped his fingers. “I knew I forgot something,” Blake said, and then went to the stove where he was sautéing vegetables. “You like stir fry?” he asked, holding up a bottle of soy sauce with a questioning but hopeful look.
    Kennedy stared blankly at him, her mind going back in time to when Easton had been cooking for her in the townhouse. In some ways, this was a very similar scene, except the kitchen was small and a little dingy, and Blake was…well, Blake was Blake.
    He wasn’t Easton, and it hurt her