Read Bad to the Bone (Wicked Reads) for Free Online

man like Vaden? Did he even know the meaning of the
term?
    “I know what you’re thinking now,” Josiah
said, as he handed her a full glass of wine. His gaze dipped to her
breasts. Her nipples poked at the thin fabric of her shirt. He
brushed his knuckles softly across her left nipple. Sensation
rippled through her. Olivia caught her breath. “I was thinking the
same thing.” His lips lowered and brushed across hers. Her nipples
tingled and tightened.
    Suddenly feeling awkward, Olivia pulled away
and sipped her wine.
    Josiah smiled. He moved back to the counter
and started to empty the bag. “Liv, I’m at your beck and call. You
call the shots, I’ll eagerly follow.”
    She let out a long, shaky breath. “Thank
you.”
    As Josiah worked his way around her kitchen,
Olivia perched on a counter barstool. “How is your son taking the
divorce?”
    Josiah shrugged. “Like any ten-year old. He’s
the reason I stayed so long. But I realized I wasn’t setting a good
example of a loving husband. Ryan’s a good kid, and Ann is a good
mom. Much better than I am a father.”
    “I doubt that, Jos. You’ve always been great
with kids.”
    He nodded as he seasoned the steaks. “What’s
up with Holbrook?”
    Her hand shook and she almost dropped her
glass. “Vaden?”
    He looked pointedly at her. “Yeah.”
    Olivia felt the heat rise in her cheeks, then
spread down her neck to her chest. It was her tell. Tommy always
said he knew when she was nervous or embarrassed. She turned as red
as a tomato. “He helped me out with a few things after Tommy
died.”
    Josiah stared at her, his gaze sweeping
across her chest. He knew, too. “What kind of things ?”
    She sipped her wine and looked past him.
“Just... things.” Then she collected herself and looked as
pointedly at him as he had her. “None-of-your-business things.”
    “We call him the terminator at the PD.
Everything he touches ends up broken. Watch out.”
    “I’ve been to hell and back twice in the last
eleven years, Josiah. Not even the terminator can break me.” She
wondered if she lied.
    “Let’s hope so.”
    When they sat down to eat, Josiah lifted his
glass and gazed quietly at her. “To the future, let it open new
doors and close old hurts.”
    Vaden’s handsome face sprung into her mind’s
eye. Every part of her warmed as her chest tightened with emotion.
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Josiah smiled
and clinked her glass. “It’s okay, Liv.”
    She nodded and clinked his glass, not
elaborating on her sudden melancholy.
    The steak was perfectly grilled. Rare, just
the way she liked it. But Olivia only picked at it. The wine,
however, flowed freely. She was on her third glass, and feeling
soft and mellow. She settled back into her chair and looked at
Josiah. He smiled and set his fork down.
    “I know that look,” he said.
    “What look?”
    “The one that says, you want to know
something.”
    Olivia smiled and sipped her wine. “I was
just wondering how different our lives would have been had I said
‘yes’ to fucking you that night.”
    His eyes widened at her unladylike
vocabulary, but right behind his shock a flare of excitement
sparked his dark eyes. Vaden liked when she talked dirty too.
Josiah set his wine glass down and scooted around the table toward
her. He took her hands into his big warm ones, his gaze serious
now. “I would have given you the world, Liv. I’m sorry I fucked it
up.”
    “You didn’t. I believe we all have to travel
our own paths before we can come full circle.”
    His eyes sparked again. He brought her
fingers to his lips and kissed the tips. “Did it bring you back to
me, Liv?”
    “I don’t know. I do know I don’t plan on
spending the next ten years of my life hiding behind anyone.”
    He nudged her chin up with his hand so that
they looked eye to eye. “Then stand beside me, Liv. We were good
together.”
    Her heart stutter-stepped at his words. There
was a time when she would have