Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) Read Free

knew how she felt. She was in the same mood he had arrived in over an hour ago.
    He frowned. Was she just now getting to work? She should’ve been here before him this morning.
    Genuinely concerned by her soggy appearance, he asked, “Run into any trouble on the way in?”
    She took another deep breath through her nose, probably working out how she could possibly get out of answering his question without speaking to him aloud.
    Before he had a chance to ask if she was all right, she closed her eyes and shook her head. “Just a flat tire.”
    That explained the wet cat fashion statement she was sporting.
    Ticked that she hadn’t had the sense to ask him for help, she admonished, “Why didn’t you call for road assistance? One of us would’ve come out to help.”
    She grabbed the now full carafe off of the burner and poured a small amount of the very strong, black coffee into her mug. He watched mesmerized, as she measured in a healthy amount of creamer and four packets of stevia. She mixed her concoction with vigor, turned to face him and very deliberately took a drink.
    As she tipped up her mug, the image on the bottom was hard to ignore; a hand flipping him the bird.
    He glared at her.
    She smirked back with a raised eyebrow, turned back to the counter to fill her mug with more of the bitter brew and then stormed out of the breakroom. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the feminine sway of her rounded hips as she sashayed to her desk, before the door closed in his face.

    LAUREN SLAMMED HER Have A Nice Day mug onto her desk, tossed her purse in the drawer and headed to the ladies room to try and dry off.
    Call in for help, indeed. Like she would use up precious manpower for a lousy flat that she could change herself. She wasn’t helpless, for heaven sake.
    She looked at herself in the mirror and almost started crying. Her blonde hair hung in matted ropes with water dripping from the ends. Her makeup was smeared giving her raccoon eyes.
    But what embarrassed her most was that her white silk blouse was plastered to her body, wet and transparent, as if she were entering herself in a wet t-shirt contest. Thank goodness she’d worn the white lacy camisole underneath her blouse or she could’ve been cited for indecent exposure.
    And, of course it’d be her luck that Jarod would be the first person to see her in all this miserable glory. She didn’t know who was worse; him or Marguerite.
    Okay, that ’ s unfair. No one ’ s as bad as Marguerite.
    Her slim shoulders drooped in defeat. It didn’t matter what they were fighting about, she would always love Jarod King. She’d fallen hard and fast the day she’d first laid eyes on him and no matter what they were fighting about, her heart would always belong to him.
    Whether he knew it or not.
    At first, it’d been just a school girl crush on the older bad boy. Back then, he wore his brown wavy hair a bit longer than the crew cut he sported for his job now. But his eyes were the same sapphire blue that changed with his moods. Since his divorce, his eyes ranged from sapphire gems to blue fire in an instant. He was harder than he used to be but her feelings for him had never gone away and, in fact, had only grown over the years.
    Lauren and her best friend, Julie, had been freshmen when they’d met and become best friends with Josh King, Jarod’s youngest brother. All three were as close today as they were back then. And now Julie was marrying Jason, the third King brother.
    And now Lauren was about to embark on a new adventure with the Kings. Jarod’s mother, Camille, had offered her a partnership in a new business venture that also included Julie. They would be coordinating and catering charitable events in their community. They hadn’t finalized the business details yet but she was excited to start a new adventure and a new career.
    She would miss seeing Jarod everyday but leaving her position with the sheriff’s office would be a relief. Seeing people at the