Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 Karen Whiddon (best fiction books to read TXT) 📖

outlandish. I think we should tell them we are exploring a reconciliation, but don’t want anyone to see us together. We can say we’re only telling them because we trust them—my mother will eat this up—and they will be expected to keep our secret. If we don’t reconcile, which we both know we won’t, no harm no foul. We’ll make it clear that it’s not working out, when it’s safe for you to move about on your own again.”

“We’ll be able to have them keep their dignity while ensuring their safety.” She interrupted him, warming to the insane idea. And she couldn’t ignore the respect she had for him for the sweet gesture. Stanton cared about his parents, his family. He knew what mattered. How many successful entrepreneurs kept their priorities as rock-solid as he had? If she were honest, though, all of Stanton’s siblings had their priorities straight. She’d kept tabs on Stanton and his family since the breakup more than she cared to admit. Oldest brother Clarke had fallen in love with Everleigh, even while she was accused—falsely—of being a murderer. Travis had started a family with Tatiana Davison, daughter of none other than serial killer Len Davison. Travis hadn’t allowed the sins of Tatiana’s father to stop him from seeing Tatiana as her own person, and the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Melissa and Antonio Ruiz were engaged, planning to start a family soon. A chief of police, under all of the current crime chaos in Grave Gulch, still putting family first.

No wonder Stanton had been eager to settle down into marriage and family. It was what the Coltons did when they found the one.

It’d be best if she just forgot the latter. She wasn’t Stanton’s “one” and hadn’t been since he’d broken her heart. And now she realized, she’d broken his in return. It was paramount that she kept her own priorities straight for this story. Which meant leveling with his parents as much as possible.

Still, she had misgivings. “There’s one thing I’m not happy about.” To put it mildly.

“Shoot.”

“Wouldn’t they expect us to be affectionate in front of them? I’m not up for that, Stanton. I don’t have the energy to pretend that much.” Her hands shook and she shoved them under her thighs. It wasn’t from the cold, and it wasn’t from shock any longer. It was 100 percent awareness of his nearness, and how even though the plan was just that, a plan, it reminded her too acutely of the passion they’d once shared. And she was lying, about the pretend part.

“You don’t have to pretend. We will make it clear we’re simply looking for a place to talk things out, like two adults, without any other distractions. We’ll be in separate rooms, so that will be their first clue that we’re serious about doing things right.”

“What do you mean by that? They never disapproved of us sharing a room before. Did they? Not that I want to share a room now. That’s not what I meant.” Heat warmed her cheeks for the umpteenth time since he’d walked—no, run—back into her life this morning.

“No, they’re open-minded about such things, you know that. Look, I know this is highly unusual, and I’m asking for more than I deserve here. I get it, trust me. This is for my parents, Dominique. By doing things the ‘right’ way, I meant differently from how we handled our breakup.”

“Oh, you mean the part where you gave me an ultimatum and I had no choice but to leave?” Tears scalded her eyes but she kept her gaze even with his. Let him see the pain. It was about time.

“No, I mean the part where you didn’t give me a second chance after you walked out. You didn’t answer any of my calls or texts. You blocked me.”

“I had a story—”

“Oh, here we go again. It was about the story. I can’t help but think your excuse was a convenient way to get away from me. I was too fast, too eager to make us into something we weren’t.” His voice wasn’t bitter, didn’t hold the condescending tone. His eyes sparked with something dangerous, and she saw the moonlight reflect in their depths. “Do you ever wonder how things would be now if I hadn’t proposed, Dominique? At least not then. If I’d waited. Or agreed to your suggestion on the spot and we’d stayed together, saw how it worked out over time? I never told you this, but what really made me end it was when you first said you weren’t ready to commit to marriage, I freaked out. I thought that if I wasn’t your husband, I wouldn’t be able to ask you to curtail your more dangerous work as needed. The thought of losing you to a story... I could never face that. Do you ever reconsider leaving so abruptly?” His anguish was laid bare. So much in his soft tone, the sensuous way the words rolled off his tongue.

Her body lit with arousal at the soft query, the genuine wonder reflected in his words. “No. I mean, yes, I can imagine but I can’t let myself go there.” He turned toward her and reached up to stroke her cheek with a finger. Tingles sparked across her skin and down her throat. They were a whisper apart.

“Why not?” He traced her lips with his finger, then leaned in and grazed her mouth with his. She closed her eyes, unable to contain the shots of lust that pooled in all the right places. “Tell me, Dom. Why can’t you go there?”

“I can’t risk what it could cost me.” As she spoke, her body swayed closer, arced toward him. It might be the events of the day, the prospect of pretending to be trying to get back together, or perhaps it was no more than being near Stanton again. No matter the reason, Dominique was done fighting what had ignited in that decrepit