Read Break Me Slowly for Free Online

up—consumed—by another terrified me. Being left wanting more than I could have or handle wasn’t something I wanted to experience. I didn’t know much about the opposite sex, but it was clear that Adam was a lot to take on and not easily forgettable.
    My phone buzzed. The caller I.D. read: Kink.
    M aybe it was juvenile, but that’s the label I’d given him when I programmed his number last night.
    I took a deep breath and answered.
    “Hello, Katelyn. How are you today?”
    “ Fine, thank you. What can I do for you, Adam?” My goal was to sound professional and completely unaffected by his voice. Thank God he couldn’t see my hands tremble.
    I heard his smirk. “Now that you mention it, you can—”
    “ Never mind,” I hissed.
    “ I was going to ask you to join me for dinner, but I like where your dirty mind was going.”
    “ I wasn’t thinking anything dirty.”
    “ Don’t lie to me, Katelyn.”
    His voice was rough and deep . Even over the phone he could make me shudder. “You don’t give up easily.”
    “ It is not in my interest to insult you. But I cannot amend my entire process and daily life to accommodate all your wishes. I am attempting to find a middle ground.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Because I want you.”
    “ And what exactly do you want with me?”
    “ I thought we’d been over this.”
    “ So it is just about sex?”
    “ I can’t say for certain. You intrigue me and I’d like to spend time with you and get to know you better. How much better would be up to you.”
    I thought about all those women he had been photographed with. Som e weird anger I had no right to feel flared. “I’m not what you want, Adam.”
    “ I haven’t heard the word no come out of your mouth. Have dinner with me tonight.”
    I flipped my planner open and checked my schedule. Since my office hours ended early today, I ’d promised my six-year-old cousin Simon that I’d take him to the zoo for the afternoon. I’d have enough time afterward to shower and change before going to work. Though I would have loved to play hooky and go out to dinner with Adam, I couldn’t cancel work on short notice. I needed all the hours I could get anyway.
    “ I’m sorry, I can’t do dinner tonight.”
    He was silent for a long moment. “Good-bye, Katelyn.”
    The l ine went dead. Had I just turned down something I wouldn’t get a chance at again? The thought made me sick.
    ~
    “You’re going to be here this weekend to help me set up for the party, right?”
    I h ad just walked through my aunt Grace’s front door. “Yes, I’ll be here to help.”
    Simon race down the stars and run toward me. He threw himself into my arms and I swept him up in a hug. “You ready to see the zoo, buddy?”
    “ Yeah!” Both his little hands shot into the air.
    “ Go get your coat.”
    He took off for his room again.
    “Zoo today? That’ll be fun for you two,” Grace said as she looked over the mail on the counter. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a bun and her khaki slacks were perfectly pressed. She was two years younger than my mother and looked similar. Grace didn’t have to work due to her husband’s success in real estate. She had been pregnant with Simon the summer I’d moved in with them. Going from my mother’s house to my aunt’s should have been a step up. But, like everything, it came with complications.
    “ Your uncle is looking forward to seeing you at the party.”
    Bile rose in my throat. Tim St. Roy was married to my aunt, but I would never call him Uncle. There was something evil lurking in that man. In high school, right after I had moved in, he came home drunk one night and “accidentally” wandered into my room. I could still smell the whiskey on his breath and feel his sweaty hand run down my back.
    I stifled a disgusted tremor. Being snuck up on while sleeping was something I was used to and the moment I’d felt his hands on me, I awoke throwing fists. He ran out of my room and the next day,