The Last Straw Read Free Page A

you’re here. You thought my office was bugged?”
    “A precaution.”
    “I understand taking precautions. My whole business is built around them. That’s why I marked you a security risk.”
    He chuckled. Good. She’d avoided the whole pathetic you-dumped-me thing.
    “So, now it’s my turn,” Jared said. “You’ve moved your business to California. Why?”
    Because of you. “Better weather.”
    “And?” He crossed his arms.
    She hadn’t fooled him. “Needed a change.”
    “Ally, I’m sorry if I had anything to do with your decision.”
    “You give yourself too much credit.”
    A grudging smile and nod. “Touché. Is there any way we can start over?”
    A rush of warmth filled her heart. No, she couldn’t be falling for his charms again, she just couldn’t. “What for? So you can dump me again when your next assignment moves you on?” So much for not sounding pathetic!
    His brow crinkled. “I don’t know. I just want to see you.”
    Her heart plummeted. He didn’t know . But what had she wanted? A proclamation of love? Yes . She sucked on some more ice. Where was the waiter when she needed him?
    “You found me by chance,” she said. “And you just want another short-term fling. Well, thanks, but no thanks.”
    Jared’s attention over her shoulder told her the waiter was coming back. In profile, when his eyes weren’t all soft and lovey-dovey for her benefit, he was a focused FBI agent. Hard jaw, alert gaze, body poised for fight or flight. It was so obvious he was in law enforcement. How had she missed the signs before?
    Love goggles, that’s how. Was she destined to repeat her mother’s experience? Her pretty mom, the other half of a “good-looking couple,” cried every night after working all day to support them. Sure, Dad had paid alimony and child support, but a cloud of sadness hung over their household and it never cleared. Risking involvement with the exact same type of man as her dad wasn’t smart.
    The waiter delivered the appetizers and their smell roiled her already upset stomach. Jared loaded her plate and slid it her way.
    “No, thanks,” she said, shoving it back. “This was a mistake.”
    Did he know what he was doing with those puppy-dog eyes?
    “Ally, let me explain. I’d decided not to try and have a personal life during this phase of my career.”
    “Sleeping with me wasn’t personal?”
    “Yes, of course it was. I thought we could casually date. It turned into more. I thought you deserved a lot more than what I had to offer. I didn’t mean to have happen what… what happened.”
    “That’s just great. So I was a mistake?”
    He hesitated, then spoke in measured words. “You weren’t a mistake. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”
    “You need to work on how you go about not hurting people.”
    He frowned and nodded once, keeping his gaze on her. “I don’t want to do that again. I don’t want to be good at leaving.”
    He’d said the right words. Her heart thudded against her ribs. Don’t fall for it. “What do you want from me? Forgiveness?”
    “Nothing. I just want to explain. I was working undercover, waking up every day and having to remember what my name was. I thought it would be easier for you to forget me if you didn’t hear from me again.”
    “Why do guys always think that? Would a phone call have killed you?”
    “I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant it to go as far as it had.”
    His gaze dropped to her mouth and her cheeks burned with the memory of his whiskers against her skin.
    “And yet it did,” she said.
    “Like I said, we had an amazing time, but I couldn’t get involved. I didn’t mean to. But our involvement got away from me. I wasn’t sure what to say. I thought you’d get over it faster if I just left. You’d write me off as a jerk.”
    “Involvement? Not a relationship? Well, you succeeded with the jerk part.” Pressure built behind her eyes.
    “Ally, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize—”
    “What? You’re right. We