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A hand on his shoulder startled hi next to him, her eyes narrowed in worry

"Eli, are you okay? I called your name over and over and you didn’t hear me"

He forced a smile "Sorry, I’m a little distracted"

"Okay, well, your food is ready" She walked back to the kitchen and Eli had to force his eyes away from the sway of her hips Even if he hadn’t already known that taking their attraction any further was a bad idea, the call fro reminder Until he’d atoned for the mistakes of his past, he was enslaved to the authorities, who held his freedorasp He had to continue to cooperate with them, and it was always on their timetable, not his Kay needed someone who could put her first, be there for her whenever she called

He wasn’t free to be the man she needed

ELI PARKED HIS truck on the side of the road the next afternoon and cut the engine Kay was at work and he’d left Tank there in his place She had no idea what he was doing with his afternoon off, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to tell her Anyfor her, so he hadn’t told her that Jere had recently been released on parole

He couldn’t be thehe could do for her: help her get her life back to norurine, the sooner he could make that happen

He looked at the house across the street and two doors down According to Jere since his release There was a pretty big chance that this was a waste of his afternoon Taking the word of a known liar and a recovering drug addict was risky at best and downright stupid at worst However, a year ago Jere alone If Eli had taken him seriously then and pressed for more details, there was a chance he could have found the er again

He walked down to the two-story house with theup around the cracked concrete steps, snaking over the edges of the s and the house hadn’t been painted in years If Jere had been paid to threaten Kay as he’d claiotten rich from the job

"What do you want?" A haggard-looking wolared at hi Is he home?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Elliott Alexander"