Break Me Read Online Free

at me.”
    I didn’t. I hadn’t. And I sure as hell wasn’t smiling about it now, either.
    “You think he’s interested in someone else?”
    “No. Why else would he come into the diner every morning?”
    “Because he’s hungry?”
    “Nuh uh. He always sits in my section and always at the end closest to where I approach the table.”
    My thoughts from this morning came flooding back. I would need to avoid the diner at all costs for a while. Jo was seeing things that weren’t there. I sighed, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes.
    I tuned out the rest of the conversation. I’d heard too much already. It was nice to be wanted, but this was different.
    I didn’t want the unwanted and unwarranted attention of Jo.
    I wanted the hard to get and definitely desired attention of Claire.
    “Jared.”
    Speak of my personal devil… I opened my eyes and turned my head. She stood there, uncertainty in her gaze, holding a cup of coffee toward me.
    I wanted to smile, but I kept it on the inside. Deep down inside. I didn’t want to frighten her away. “You’re busy today,” I remarked softly.
    “Yes. A last minute gathering of one of the book clubs.”
    “How did you know I was here? I’m pretty well hidden from sight and I didn’t see you at all.”
    Her cheeks flushed. “I don’t know.”
    “Liar.”
    It was her turn to sigh. “I knew the second you walked in. I saw you through the stacks and bookcases. And then I saw you disappear behind this one. Why? Why are you hiding?”
    Did I tell her? Did I tell her about Jo and her advances? Did it matter? Would I let it? In the end, I just shrugged and opened my mouth to tell her why, but she opened her mouth, too, and the words that came out shut my mine down to all else but her.
    “Dead,” she said. “He’s dead.”
    I didn’t have to ask who she was talking about. I saw it in her face, the haunted sadness that infused every pore on her face told me who it was.
    The man in the picture.
    Her Dom.
    “How?”
    “Accident. Rainy night and he was driving too fast. Late leaving a meeting.”
    “Where was he going?” I had a sneaking suspicion I knew, though.
    “To meet me at The Club .”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    Claire
     
    The stunned look on Jared’s face quickly turned to sympathy. I didn’t read pity in his gaze and relief swamped me. I couldn’t have handled that. I had seen it all too often from friends, that I simply wouldn’t have been able to bear it from him. It took time for sadness to take over for most, but they’d all moved on quickly enough. And that had been okay, too. I was allowed to grieve in private; to wallow in oh woe is me, to indulge dark depressions that lasted for days, sometimes weeks. No one telling me it was time to face the world again. No one telling me it was time to let it go. No one telling me it was time to move on.
    I was there, barely existing. And that’s just the way I’d wanted it. Until fucking Jared.
    “This bookstore was his,” I said. “The café sat next door. There used to be a wall between them.”
    “What happened? To the wall?”
    I smiled at his question. Did he know I needed to talk about it, all of it, even if I hadn’t known until just this minute? Did he know that I hadn’t talked about any of it, to anyone since it happened? “T…” I shook my head as my chin began to tremble. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and blinked back sudden tears. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
    “Take your time,” he said softly. “I’m not going anywhere.” He took my hand and led me to a small table that was set at the end of another bookcase. It was there for the purpose of work, and study. That had always been important to my Sir.
    Even in my head, I had a hard time saying his name.
    I folded my hands on the surface of the table while Jared sat silently, watching me, his coffee cup between us.
    “Tell me, Claire,” he said after a long silence, his voice allowing for no