The Kiera Hudson Prequels 2 Read Online Free

married. But they had had problems in their marriage recently and they had come to this out-of-the-way place to spend time together.
    “ What are you staring at?” Tom asked
    “ The man and woman at the table behind you,” I said. “They’ve come here to sort the problems out in their marriage.”
    “ How do you know they’ve had marital problems?” Tom asked, without looking back at them.
    “ Look at how close they are sitting to each other. Look at how they are holding hands across the table,” I told him. “I don’t know of any married couple that sits and hold hands while staring into each other’s eyes for hours on end.”
    “ You’re so cynical,” Tom smiled, taking a mouthful of wine. “Besides, they might be newlyweds.”
    “ Look at their wedding rings embedded deep into the flesh of their fingers. They’ve both put on a little weight since the big day, which suggests it wasn’t recently,” I smiled back. “And I’m not cynical.”
    “ But how do you know they’ve recently had problems?” Tom asked.
    “ Why else come to such a remote place? They want to spend time together, away from others so they have time to talk without interruption,” I said, glancing over his shoulder at the couple, then back at Tom. “But he isn’t in love with her anymore, but she is still in love with him.”
    “ How do you know he isn’t in love with her?” Tom pushed.
    “ If he truly loved her, he wouldn’t have brought her to a place like this. He has money. He’s wearing a Rolex watch, wearing expensive shoes and clothes. No such fineries have been lavished on her. If he really loved her and wanted to make the marriage work, he would have taken her somewhere far more extravagant. He would have wanted to spoil her.”
    “ That kind of love only exists in fairy tales,” Tom said.
    “ Now who’s being cynical,” I said back with a half-smile.
    Tom drank more of his wine. The young waitress arrived, placing two plates of steaming hot chicken and vegetables onto the table. We thanked her and she went back to the kitchen. We sat and ate in silence. It wasn’t because we had run out of things to say to each other. Tom was the sort of friend I could sit in silence with and feel comfortable with. We were just both starving hungry. Food took priority over any conversation that we might have been having.
    “ Better than cheeseburgers?” I eventually asked, as Tom sat back in his seat and patted his flat stomach.
    “ Oh yeah,” he smiled. “That was good.”
    I placed my knife and fork down and pushed my empty plate to one side. Tom refilled our glasses and I took another sip. My head felt a little light, but I wasn’t anywhere close to drunk. I just felt relaxed. But it probably was due to the effects of the wine that I asked my next question.
    “ Tom, were you really worried about me like that guy said you were?”
    He looked at me over the table, a flicker of firelight in his blue eyes. “Yes,” he said.
    “ Why?” I asked.
    “ Because you’re my friend , remember?” he said right back. “Besides, everything else that guy said was nonsense. He was making the whole thing up.”
    I lifted my glass and drained it. Looking at Tom, I said, “Did you really tell him you thought I was pretty?”
    “ I was just trying to describe you. Besides, I’ve told you before I think you’re pretty,” he said, shifting in his seat as if uncomfortable.
    “ Have you?” I asked.
    “ Loads of times,” he nodded.
    “ I don’t remember,” I pushed.
    “ I’m sure I have,” he said, taking up his glass and drinking the last of the wine. “What about when you thought Morris Cook was staring at you in that garage? I said he was probably looking at you because you were pretty. See, that was one time I said it.”
    “ I’m sure I would’ve remembered,” I said.
    “ Why would you, things were different back then,” Tom tried to explain.
    “ Different?” I frowned. “Different, how?”
    “ We had