Crushed (Crystal Brook Billionaires) Read Free Page A

out,” he explained. “She lives right down the street from you.”
    “Oh.”
    There. At least “oh” was close to an actual word.
    “Dharma,” the man said.
    “Everything happens for a reason.”
    He grinned wider. “It’s a little more complicated than that. It depends on which religion you’re asking. But sure. The principle of cosmic order. That’s probably it in a nutshell.”
    “Why are you mentioning it?” I slowly asked, a scary realization dawning on me as I spoke. First of all, the man I’d just invited into my parents’ house was a literal stranger. He claimed to be looking for a lost cat, but who knew if that really was the case. He could have been looking to rape someone — kill, maim, rob — that’s what he could have been looking for.
    Although with looks like the ones he possessed, he probably had more trouble keeping women off of him.
    Gwen. Her name was like a lifeline. Hopefully, if Cat Boy made any funny move on me, she’d have enough sense to figure out what was going on in the hallway and call the cops.
    “Dharma is the cat’s name,” he answered, drawing me out of my frantic thought-stream.
    “Oh.”
    Gwen appeared over his shoulder in the kitchen doorway. “The repairman just called,” she said. “He’s on his way.”
    “Right,” Cat Boy said before I could so much as draw a breath. “I apologize. I should have realized you thought I was someone else. I’m just looking for a cat.”
    Gwen leaned against the doorway. “Which cat?”
    “A gray one. With a pink collar that has a bell on it.”
    Her eyes went wide. “Dharma? Is she okay?”
    “Probably. She just didn’t come home yesterday, and her owner is freaking out.”
    Gwen nodded. “Yeah, I know Whitney. I’ll keep an eye out for her.”
    “Thanks.”
    Gwen straightened up and took a step towards the guy. “I’m Gwen. That’s Claire.”
    “Owen Burke.” He turned to face Gwen straight on. Seeing my opportunity, I slid sideways towards the staircase. So the man who I’d welcomed inside wasn’t a rapist. Great. That meant Gwen would be fine on her own. Which meant I could sneak away upstairs and disappear back into darkness.
    If I were lucky, Peter would be in some of my dreams.
    And if I were even luckier, my sleep would be dreamless.
    “Claire,” Gwen nearly shouted. “Where are you going?”
    I grabbed the end of the banister. “Just, uh, upstairs for something.”
    “I should go,” Owen said, turning and looking right at me. His hazel gaze pierced my face and traveled to the soles of my feet, pinning me in place. “It was nice to meet you both. Sorry about the mix up.”
    Gwen waved her hand, her giant engagement ring sparkling in the light coming through the back window. “Don’t worry about it. It’s pretty funny, actually.”
    Owen laughed. “I really can give it a go if you want.” He still faced me as he spoke, even though Gwen was the one who was more interested in the conversation.
    “No,” Gwen smiled. “Someone will be here soon. Thanks. It’s just ridiculous that we need AC this early in April.”
    “Agreed.” He clapped his hands together. “Well, I’ll see you around, I’m sure. It was nice to meet you both.”
    I lifted my hand in a half-ass wave.
    “Nice to meet you too,” Gwen said. “Bye.”
    Owen left, shutting the front door gently behind him.
    “So,” Gwen cheerily said, turning to me. “What do you want to do? Mom’s gonna be back any minute, so if we want to bust out of here, we should go soon.”
    “I don’t know. I’m feeling pretty tired.”
    Gwen’s lips twisted, but she didn’t say anything. I stood still and just stared back at her. Out of anyone in my life, Gwen understood what I was going through the most. She had, after all, had her heart broken not too long ago. She hadn’t lost someone in the exact same way I had, but she’d spent a crazy number of months walking around with the pain of heartbreak dangling like a chain from her neck.