Convicted (Entangled Ignite) Read Free Page A

seem to be buying her explanation. “My dad was in the Navy, okay?”
    That, he finally accepted. “Squiddy father and biker uncle, huh?”
    “Both of them were, actually. Vietnam vets.” Which probably explained more to this man than it did to most. “You and Rick were Marines, right?”
    He shifted those hawk eyes to the playground again, the movement sharp and dismissive. It felt like a wall slammed down on her fingers, the abrupt move almost making her gasp.
    She could have left then. Gotten up and walked away. He wouldn’t have said a thing to stop her, and she knew that’s exactly what she should have done. Just talking was putting them both at risk.
    But she stayed.
    And he let her.
    “Strange, isn’t it?” she asked, following his gaze toward the kids on the playground “How is it they don’t know what kind of danger they’re in? How are they so blissfully blind?”
    “That’s not what I was thinking.”
    She looked over, surprised he’d answered. She thought he’d keep ignoring her until she went away.
    “I was thinking they don’t have anyone to protect them.” The wind, warm and strong, rustled his hair. He blinked, but never changed his focus.
    “Is that why you come here every day? To keep an eye on them?” She couldn’t quite keep the disbelief from her voice.
    His head shake was faint. “I come because they’re peaceful.”
    She turned a skeptical eye on the small people making crazy all over the slides and sand. Nothing peaceful was happening over there.
    “They’re perfectly content in their lives. They know something isn’t right around here, kids always do, but they still manage to be happy despite it.”
    Her derision melted. Put like that, she felt kinda crappy for her other thoughts.
    “Someone should protect that.”
    Someone. “Not you?”
    He shook his head again. “What I know how to do, children should never see.” The stiffness in his form made her own muscles ache. She’d have touched his shoulder, the granite line of his jaw, if she didn’t think it would shatter him. Voice thick with bitterness, couched in a finality that told her he wouldn’t answer any questions on this, he added, “I’m not the one for that job.”
    She didn’t have the first clue what to say now.
    “Why did you come here?” he asked suddenly. She found herself in the stark scrutiny of his dark brown gaze. “It wasn’t to hit on me, no matter what you want me to think. Women like you don’t have to do the chasing.”
    Not usually, no. “Maybe I like to do the chasing.”
    He didn’t flicker an eyelash.
    Damn. So he wasn’t going to be swayed with feminine charm. In fact, he didn’t appear willing to be swayed at all. She drew in a careful breath, her heartbeat speeding up under that unrelenting stare. He’d wait all day for an answer, she realized, portent sinking in her stomach like a stone.
    He didn’t move, hardly blinked, and he damn sure didn’t say a word, but in that moment, something became very clear to her. This one was going to be trouble. To her. To everything she was risking her life to achieve. Possibly to himself.
    Of all the things on that list, for some reason the last one was the one that bothered her most.
    For the first time in a long time, honesty seemed the best option. “There’s a rumor in town that you’re damaged from the war. I wanted to see for myself if you were safe.”
    “I’m not. I think we both know that.” His solemn pronouncement didn’t help her discomfort. He made it sound as if everyone knew that. Or maybe he simply wanted everyone to think it.
    “So how did you get this job if you’re not safe around people?”
    Not even a shrug. “Sheriff can deputize whomever he wants.”
    Katrina barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. “Is that supposed to make me sleep better at night? You’re armed, for fuck’s sake.”
    He pierced her with a sharp glare. “Do you really think my guns are what make me dangerous?” He shook his head