Jamie by Lori Foster

”
    Dismissing her outrage, Jamie agreed. “He was that.”
    It took Faith a moment to get her temper under control. More than ever, she was glad Kline had found a bad end to his evilness. “When did you finally realize that he lied to you just to keep you around?”
    â€œI never knew for sure.” Jamie turned to face her, resting back on the counter. “But I finally decided I didn’t care. I figured if they hunted me down, I’d be ready.”
    Faith’s heart wanted to break as she realized the terror he must have lived with. It explained a lot about his cautious nature and the way he’d isolated himself.
    â€œI hid, and I covered my trail. But someone really determined could have found me. So after a few years, when no one came, it dawned on me that Kline could have been lying to serve his own purposes.”
    Kline’s influence on Jamie had been worse than Faith expected. Sympathy welled up, enough to choke her. But she hid it, instinctively knowing Jamie wouldn’t want her pity. “I guess there’s a lot about you that I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
    One brow lifted. “So you don’t know that I have a comfortable savings? I’m shocked. I thought you’d dug up every little scrap of my life.”
    â€œI wouldn’t even know where to look. No, I only know what my... Never mind.” If Faith told Jamie where she’d gotten her information, it wouldn’t take him long to learn the rest.
    Jamie’s shoulders tightened, but he said nothing. He turned back to the cabinet and quickly and efficiently prepared the coffeemaker, which set her mouth to watering. More than ever before, she needed her morning kick of caffeine.
    But when Jamie set the moonshine on the counter too, Faith bit back a groan. Next to the moonshine, he stacked a clean cloth and some ointment.
    â€œI don’t want to drink any more of that, Jamie.”
    â€œIt’s for your leg, not your mouth.” He snorted. “You get too damn amorous when you drink.”
    Remembering some of what she’d said and done the night before, Faith blushed. “Should I apologize again, then?”
    Jamie shrugged, and she said, “No, I don’t think I will. The truth is, you’d interest me whether I was drunk or not. And you already know it, because I’m not blocking my thoughts.”
    â€œWrong.” With the ice pack in hand, Jamie started toward her. “The fact that you can hide your thoughts at will means I can’t trust anything you say. You distort things, picking and choosing what I glean and what you keep well buried.”
    â€œWhat you read is real, Jamie.”
    â€œBut taken out of context, anything can be misconstrued.”
    Accepting that he had a point, Faith felt compelled to explain. “I had to learn to do it for Cory.”
    â€œIs that right?”
    â€œShe’s a child, Jamie. Whenever I was upset or sad, she took on the emotion. She used to cry, and I wouldn’t know why. I thought she had colic. Or worse. Even though the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her, it scared me to death. But the more afraid I got, the more upset she got. It was ... heartbreaking.”
    Jamie sat close to her and moved the hem of the flannel shirt out of his way so he could see her thigh. “It bothers you so much when she cries?”
    â€œIf you’ve never loved a child, then you can’t know. ”
    Jamie gave her an unreadable look. “No, I’ve never loved a kid.”
    Baring her soul, Faith pressed a hand to her heart and said, “It’s devastating. I’d sooner take a beating than see Cory hurt or afraid.”
    Jamie’s expression changed, but Faith had no clue to his thoughts. As usual, he didn’t let her see any more than he wanted her to see. “How did you figure out that she reacted to your feelings?”
    â€œPurely by accident. I’d been