Crime and Punishment 4: Burning Submission Read Free

and she’s over twice my age.”
    “How do you know Linda?” he asked.
    “She and my mother were friends.”
    “Were?”
    Jennifer glanced back at the mantel and rubbed the pad of her thumb over the corner of the shelf. He was so easy to talk to; she had an insane desire to spill the truth. She couldn’t. Not to him. Not to anyone. Only Linda knew the truth.
    “My parents died about two years ago.”
    “I’m sorry,” Josh said softly.
    She kept her gaze down and away. She knew if she looked at him, she’d want to run into his arms. What was it about this man that had her defenses wanting to drop? That was dangerous—for her and for him.

Chapter Three
    Josh had a sinking feeling Jennifer was hiding something. Unfortunately, he couldn’t dig. He was here to help her with the house and nothing more. He wanted to ask her questions. But he knew from experience that if he dug too much, she would withdraw.
    And he found he didn’t want her to.
    He liked her. There was something about her. She seemed cold and distant, although occasionally he caught a glimpse of a softer, teasing side. He imagined she liked to laugh, but he got the impression that wasn’t something she did very often. Sadness filled her eyes, especially when she talked about her parents.
    He’d seen that haunted look before in military friends who’d gone off to war, in victims who’d survived tremendous violence and anguish. He’d seen it in his friend Nathan’s eyes when he blamed himself for his fiancée’s death at the hand of a serial killer. Nathan was happy now with Connelly, and that haunted look was gone, but…Jennifer’s wasn’t.
    What had caused it? The FBI agent in him wanted to solve the mystery. The man in him wanted to get to know the girl. And she was a girl. God, she was at least ten years younger than him. He had no business, but damn if he couldn’t stop staring at that round ass of hers. In those jeans it looked incredibly spankable.
    “Are you seriously staring at my ass?”
    Josh looked up at her in surprise—both that he’d been caught and that she’d actually called him out on it.
    He cringed. “Caught me. Sorry.”
    She snorted, but amusement sparkled in her eyes. “No, you’re not.” She pointed her finger at him. “I’m going to have to keep my eye on you, aren’t I?”
    Josh chuckled.
    Jennifer rolled her eyes, and then her lips spread into a resigned but teasing smile that looked good on her. “I guess you’ll definitely make things interesting around here.”
    “Interesting could be good.”
    “Yeah,” she acknowledged. “Interesting can also be trouble.”
    Josh started to say she had nothing to worry about from him, but Linda walked into the room and interrupted him. “I see the two of you are already hard at work.”
    Josh snickered. “We’re talking. Hardly working.”
    “Well, talking is making progress. So, do you think the two of you are going to be okay?” she asked.
    Josh and Jennifer looked at each other. “We’re going to be fine,” Jennifer said.
    Linda smiled, obviously pleased with herself. “Good.”
    Josh frowned slightly at the older woman. Was there something more to this? He wouldn’t put it past her. Linda had an obsession with matchmaking, and as much as she would probably argue the contrary, Josh had a sinking feeling that was what she might have in mind here.
    Her intentions were good, and he always appreciated her efforts, but Josh wasn’t interested in a relationship. Been there, done that, and had the scars to prove it. He worked too much, had too many demons to deal with. He tried to make relationships work, but he always put his job first, and that never sat well with the women of his past.
    When his last girlfriend cheated on him because he was never there, he decided to call it quits and just accept that he would be a bachelor the rest of his life. Most of the time he stayed so busy he didn’t notice he was alone.
    Most of the time.
    “I’ll leave the