Tempt Me Twice 1 Read Free Page A

out loud, but I missed him. All of him—not just the sex.
    Okay, okay. I missed that too.
    “What are you going to do?” Nick finally asked. A heavy sigh escaped my lips.
    He already knew the answer. I would do what I always did when it came to my family—I would pretend they didn’t exist. I would let them step all over me because it was better than going back and facing down my demons. I’d visited twice over the years since I’d left, but both times had been when I’d known I would be safe, and because I’d felt a sense of obligation sucking at me, reminding me that I was a mother figure for Claire and Elisa, my youngest siblings.
    This time though...
    I couldn’t afford to ignore them this time, to wait until it was safe. TJ—well, I was pretty sure it was TJ—had gone too far.
    I needed that money. Not that I was going to share my financial woes with Nick. And so I didn’t answer, shuddering instead.
    “Kayla.” Nick’s voice had lowered, and I turned to find him staring at me with naked hunger on his face. His eyes traced the planes of my face, my neck, and I shivered as though he was touching me.
    I was dying for someone to touch me.
    Hesitantly, he held out his hand. I stared at it for a second, wondering what it was he was offering with that hand. Was it just comfort? Or was there something more?
    I didn’t care. Lacing my fingers through his, I absorbed the warmth of someone who surely must care about me, at least a little bit. After all, he was here.
    Feeling the skin of another human against my own for the first time in months had tears swimming in front of my eyes, threatening to spill over.
    For one long moment I simply savoured that connection and willed the tears away.
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Nick.” My voice sounded steadier than I felt. “I don’t have a fucking clue.” And then I laughed, the sound tinged with hysteria.
    I always had a plan. Always. But I seriously had no idea what to do about the fact that I had no apartment, no one to turn to and, perhaps scariest of all, no money.
    “Look.” The fingers laced with my own squeezed reassuringly. “The bank is closed until morning. There’s nothing else you can do for tonight. If it was someone in your family who took it, you should still be able to do something through the bank, without having to go back to Louisiana.”
    Nick knew almost everything about my family, though he didn’t know my biggest secret. He knew enough to know I wouldn’t want to go back.
    But... I didn’t know if Nick’s words applied, not if TJ had had my bank information. More likely they would find me negligent. Even if the bank returned my money, though...that wouldn’t stop my family from screwing me over again the next time.
    And there was always a next time.
    Frustration overtook me, the pressure building up inside until I was sure that I’d have to scream and scream to get it out.
    No matter what I did, no matter where I went, I’d never be able to get away.
    “Let me take to you dinner.” The fingers holding my own tugged as Nick stood, smiling down at me though his eyes stayed serious. “Sleep on it. You can’t do anything about it until the morning anyway.”
    “Sleep on it,” I echoed, my voice bitter. “Right. I don’t have anywhere to sleep tonight.”
    Panic begin to lick along my skin, small flames that steadily grew larger.
    Oh my God. I was so fucked .
    “Come home.” Nick’s voice cracked, right in between those two words. Sucking in my breath sharply, I looked him in the eye.
    Surely he didn’t mean what I thought he meant.
    He couldn’t . Not after what he’d put me through.
    Under my amazed stare, he continued without pausing for breath.
    “I mean, come crash for the night. I think I even still have a pair of your pajamas.” The energy stretching between us thickened with awkwardness.
    Stay overnight in the apartment we’d once shared? It would be way too painful. How could I look at the bed that