Read Hard to Hold on To for Free Online Page A

understanding words like a lifeline.
    “ ’Course you didn’t,” he said. “All over now.”
    “Over.” She nodded. “Thank you.” Jenna tried to hug herself, but her arms only half obeyed. “I can’t stop shaking. Could you . . . would you . . .”
    Strong arms pulled her against a warm, broad chest. And as all those masculine muscles wrapped themselves around her, Jenna could finally draw a full, deep breath for the first time in maybe ten minutes.
    Which allowed her to remember that Sara and Shane were here, too. And had no doubt just heard what Jenna had revealed. She turned her head to the other side, otherwise remaining tight against Easy’s heat, and found Sara hovering just behind her, an absolutely stricken expression on her pretty face.
    Guilt flooded Jenna’s gut for piling on to the load Sara already carried— had been carrying for years. No matter what Jenna did, it seemed she just couldn’t stop hurting the one person she loved most in the world. She couldn’t stop being a burden.

Chapter 3
    T OUCHING J ENN A WAS the only thing holding Easy together. Or, at least, keeping him from tearing the Sheetrock off the wall studs with his bare hands.
    They’d fucking hit her, imprisoned her, drugged her, and touched her.
    Some of that Easy had known. Some he hadn’t. But hearing the words spill from her lips and watching her struggle to hold her emotions in check had made Easy go a little insane.
    It almost made him wish Bruno weren’t dead. Because Easy would’ve loved to be the one who’d actually taken the scumbag out. Of the three members of the team who’d been lying in wait for Bruno to appear, Shane had had the clearest shot. The mission was what had been most important, not whose bullet had exploded the cocksucker’s brains all over his SUV’s passenger seat. But, right now, in the heat of this moment, Easy wouldn’t have minded having the chance to paint his hands in Bruno’s blood as he watched the life drain from the lowlife’s eyes.
    Heaving a deep breath, Easy lifted his gaze—and found Sara and Shane staring at him. Or, more precisely, staring at how he was holding Jenna. He suddenly felt uncertain, like maybe he’d inserted himself somewhere he shouldn’t have, like maybe he didn’t belong. All he’d known was that Jenna was in deep distress and needed an anchor before it pulled her under.
    And he’d wanted to be that for her.
    He’d needed to be that for her.
    But maybe calming her and helping her and holding her wasn’t his place.
    Well, duh. None of that was his place. But maybe Shane and Sara thought so, too.
    His muscles screamed in protest, but Easy forced himself to loosen his hold and gently push himself away.
    Jenna’s fingers dug into his back, her hold tightening in direct proportion to how much he let go.
    I gotchu. That’s what he’d said.
    So was he really going to walk away now?
    His gaze cut back to Sara.
    The small, sad smile she gave him was all the permission he needed. “Thank you,” she whispered.
    Easy pulled Jenna’s weight firmly back against him. Her side against his chest. Her head against the crook of his neck. Her knees resting against his thigh. He wasn’t sure how many minutes passed before Jenna’s scratchy voice broke the silence.
    “I’d like to take a shower,” she said.
    “Of course,” Sara said with a smile that was just a watt too cheerful. “Probably make you feel a lot better.”
    It was one of those things that people said that was as untrue as it was polite.
    “Yeah,” Jenna said, easing away from Easy’s chest. And though she gave his hand a squeeze as if to silently express gratitude, she didn’t give him her eyes. Instead, she scooted away and slowly slid her feet off the edge of the bed to the floor. His loss of her heat and touch was nearly as wrenching as an amputation, a horrible analogy given that one of their teammates had actually suffered exactly that.
    “Just go slow,” Sara said, taking Jenna’s