Read Chased by a Stranger (Craved Series #3) for Free Online Page B

That was the whole point.”
     
    “Yeah, well.
I’m an idiot.”
     
    “You’re not an
idiot. You still had great sex with a celebrity doctor in an exotic location.
It’s a great story!”
     
    “Well, when
you say it like that I feel a little better.”
     
    “Good.”
     
    “But I still don’t
like the ending.” 
     
    She pursed her
lips as the air conditioner roared to life in the corner of the room. “Well,”
she said. “At least the ball’s in your court.”
     
    “Is it?”
     
    “Sure.” She
leaned back on the bed. “You could always sell your story to expose him and go
on another holiday with your winnings.”
     
    “Not helpful.”
I shook my head. “I would never do that.”
     
    “Never say
never,” Megan said.
     
    “Never.”
     
    “Sorry,” she said.
“I was just trying to make you feel better.”
     
    “Leave it,” I
said, placing some folded t-shirts in my suitcase. “Just leave it.”
     
    Out of the
corner of my eye, I saw Megan open her mouth to speak, but she closed it a
moment later.
     
    I knew she
meant well, that she was only trying to help, but there was nothing she could
say that would change the fact that I got stood up by the first guy I liked who
had more than just a dick going for him.
     
    And even
though Jack was long gone, my feelings for him weren’t.
     
    So for the
first time since we arrived, I couldn’t wait to go home.
     
     
     

Chapter
9: Jack
     
     
    It was midnight before my Dad was stable enough for me to leave
the hospital.
    Fortunately, the doctors decided they were going to keep him
through the night to monitor him in case he had a delayed stress reaction or complications
arose.
    Which was great. It meant he didn’t have to spend the night in
jail- or rather- I didn’t have to decide whether I would let him.
    Tip was okay. She was sitting on a chair in my Dad’s curtained
off section of the room. And despite needing stitches across her forehead, she seemed
pleased that her superficial injuries could be almost entirely hidden by her
hair.
    I stood with my arms folded next to the bed, watching his
vitals, strangely at home among the beeping sounds and the white noise of the
florescent hospital lights.
    “You should go home and rest,” I told her.
    “No,” she said. “I will stay. This is my fault.”
    “It’s not your fault, Tip.”
    She shrugged. “I knew it was your bike. I should have said no.”
    “Yeah, but you didn’t know he was drunk.”
    She dropped her head and stared at her clasped hands. “He told
me he was fine to drive. I thought he would be mad if I questioned him.”
    “Yeah,” I said. “God forbid he drove away angry. He might’ve
crashed.”
    She smiled a pained smile that made her small frame look heavy
with guilt.
    “He has to stop drinking,” I said. “This could’ve been much
worse.”
    She nodded. “I know, but he needs help. He can’t do it on his
own, and he doesn’t listen to me.”
    “Or me. But at least he won’t be driving again anytime soon.”
    “How long do you think?”
    “If the breaks were clean it would be one thing, but his leg was
badly crushed. I imagine he’ll need the guts of a year to recover.”
    She nodded, her eyes watery.
    Tip was the closest thing my Dad had to a girlfriend- or any
kind of friend for that matter. She put up with a lot of his shit and her Thai
had kept him out of a lot of trouble. What she saw in him I had no idea, but
like me, she knew him before he got so bad.
    I think that was part of the problem.
    After all, it was a gamble deciding who to give your heart to.
Once you committed to someone, it was hard to walk away, especially when they
suddenly needed you more than ever. Personally, I was amazed at my own ability
to cope with his illness and forgive his transgressions.
    And I had no doubt that Tip was probably equally shocked at how
often she found herself in trouble because of her loyalty to a man who wasn’t
even himself half the time.
    “Let me