Broken Promises (The Brianna Lane Series) Read Free Page A

at his flesh. Heat washed over my body, causing it to tingle with excitement. Maybe instead of going to the movies tonight, I could convince him to stay home.
    I slid my free hand in between his shirt buttons, popping them open, eager to touch his skin. My sigh was a little louder as the material parted and my fingers travelled further down his chest to his abdomen. I loved how he felt—all contoured ridges.
    He seized my hand, quickly stopping my impromptu exploration—his focus elsewhere. He gently lowered me and then crouched beside the bed as his gaze began darting over my slender frame. He looked pensive as he estimated my possible injuries and I relaxed under his silent scrutiny.
    Tenderly turning me from left to right, he inspected me for any damage. His fingers gently probed at my skin, his eyes never leaving my face as he measured whether I was in pain. I tried hard not to wince but lost the battle when he pushed a little too hard for my liking at the base of my spine. I couldn’t hide my flinch. Judging from his frown, he’d noticed.
    “What am I going to do with you, sweetheart?” he whispered, pushing to his feet. Grabbing my sleep shirt, he carefully helped me cover up. “Let me get you something to ice it with, okay?”
    Moments later he was rummaging around in the freezer, and I settled myself back into the bed. Things were definitely not going the way I’d initially planned.
    “Where is your food?” he called out. I could hear the freezer door closing and the fridge being pulled open. “There’s hardly anything in here. When’s the last time you went shopping?” I could hear him now hunting through my cupboards.
    “I don’t know, last week, I think?” I hollered back. “Stuff came up, and I haven’t had a chance to run to the grocery store. I planned on getting up early tomorrow morning.”
    He didn’t reply. I studied my fingernails, noticing I desperately needed a manicure. Just another thing on my to-do list, I sighed, lowering my hand. I worked all week at a busy law firm so it didn’t leave much time to run necessary errands. The huge pile of dirty clothes on the floor caught my attention next and in frustration, I stared back up at the ceiling. At this rate I wouldn’t have any spare time tomorrow, my chore list growing longer and longer by the second.
    I looked at my floor to ceiling mirror, studying my tired features. My red hair lay limp against the pillow, still damp from my interrupted shower. I traced my cheekbones, brushing my fingers over the smattering of freckles. I cringed when they’d surfaced during my childhood but Quinn loved them, telling me I was sun kissed to perfection. I told him he was blind, but it didn’t change his opinion. He cherished everything about me from my small nose, which he loved tweaking, to my pouty lips he nibbled on. I let out a tired sigh—there was nothing desirable about me at the moment.
    His voice broke through my thoughts and I closed my eyes.
    “Well, make sure you do because the only thing worth eating in here is the take out we ate three nights ago. But even that looks like it wants to sprout legs and walk itself to the trash bin.” The fridge door slammed shut and I heard him retracing the path back to the bedroom.
    He appeared holding a towel dripping with water. I raised my eyebrows at him, sending him a curious look.
    “You had no frozen vegetables so I scraped some of the ice from the freezer’s walls.” He came closer, signaled for me to flip over onto my side. “Here, hold this on your lower back and tell me what happened.”
    I let out a soft hiss of pain when the icy cloth connected with my skin. It didn’t take long, however, before I began to relax, the cold numbing my throbbing muscles.
    “I really don’t want to talk about it,” I groaned as I hid my face beneath one of my pillows. Now that all the excitement was over, I was mortified and wanted to move on.
    “Dancing in the shower again? Or a dramatic finish