Perfecting the Odds Read Online Free Page B

okay ,” she said quietly, zipping her purse closed. She turned and tilted her head up at the sky. He couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized by the beauty of her profile beneath the dark sky.
    “ Tell me something, Karis?” She lifted her brows with inquiry and glanced toward him. “You seem really upset about a little forgetfulness.” God, if her husband had a temper, or worse, abused her, Michael didn’t know how he’d react. Already, he felt anger bubbling just beneath the surface.
    Suddenly, she belted a laugh like it was the funniest thing she’d heard all day. “The phrase for someone with a great memory is ‘a mind like an elephant,’ right? Yeah, mine is the complete opposite. Whatever the opposite of an elephant is.” She shook her head. “Robert would just roll his eyes. He knows I’m forgetful. I…it’s not really about the ring.” Her smile turned down then. Her eyes welled with new tears. She tried to blink them back, her expression ruthlessly fighting for impassiveness, and that’s what set off another round of panic within him. Her demeanor changed. A steady gaze, pressed lips, and an oddly relaxed posture took the place of panic. The calm before the storm , his gut warned. And he was stuck firmly in the eye of it. He had to make a choice. Fight or flight.
    “Karis?”
    “Do you think misfortune follows people, Michael?” His breath caught, but before he could swallow and answer—not that he a damn clue how to respond—she smiled distractedly and turned toward him. “You have a nice smile. The way your eyes sparkle and crinkle in the corners”--she paused --“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say that...any of this. Can-candor is my weak—uh, weakness. And apparently now stuttering is on my list of flaws as well.” She gave an awkward chuckle, an attempt to hide the blush he saw slowly creeping up her neck. He stopped himself from telling her those flaws…well, they weren’t; they were both adorable and becoming unbearably addicting.
    “ Uh, what are you? twenty-seven, twenty-eight?” she asked. “Staying out here with me will just ruin your chances of a fun Saturday night. Like I said, I’m having a shit day. You probably couldn’t even get good conversation out of me. A guy like you should be…crappy bar or not, you should go back in there and flash that smile, those pretty eyes, and you’re sure to find a lovely girl.”
    Michael couldn’t help but wince at the word girl , as if he wasn’t man enough to handle a woman, or her , for that matter. Normally, he would have been pissed. Not enough to start a verbal battle, but enough to walk away. But he was already over it. Karis was different, and not because she was married and strangely despondent, but different in way that made Michael want to beg her to keep talking. So perhaps when she said girl, she implied a different connotation—almost as if she was offering a reprieve from the behavior of an off-limits, forlorn woman. Or perhaps Karis was merely finding any excuse to remove Michael as a temptation.
    The fact of the matter was this side of Karis intrigued him, and he couldn’t seem to get his feet to move one inch in the other direction…despite the emotional gale behind her eyes.
    She turned and made her way to the brick wall, leaning against it. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Michael was already tethered to her curvy body, and now her unstable emotions had him scrambling to hold onto her.
    Just w alk away.
    Soon. Definitely soon, but not yet…because that current still vibrated between them like an ignited spark--the catalyst to give him the courage to do… more .
    “You have a lovely nose, Karis.” Her eyes flew open and stared right into his eyes, through them to his soul. Could a soul hurt? Because somehow his did. And then she laughed--belly laughed--until tears tracked in torrents down her face. That one statement apparently held enough power to lift the floodgates, freeing whatever she’d