Beyond 10 Nights by Michelle Hughes, Karl Jones

anger she would say things she would
end up regretting, and she was determined not to do that. “I’m going to take a
drive and try to remember why I agreed to married to you.”
    She couldn’t have calmed him down
quicker if she had knocked him unconscious. All the fight left him in an
instant as he realized he might just lose her if he didn’t get himself under
control. “You shouldn’t drive when you’re angry,” he told her, his voice filled
with concern. What the fuck was wrong with him, he wondered, he wasn’t the
asshole he became when she defied him or did something to upset him.
    “Rhett’s right, Leah, I’ll take you
to get something to eat and then we’ll come back after everyone has had some
time to calm down.” It made sense to Alex, separating the two of them before
they could say or do anything that would be unforgiveable. He could only hope
that his friend would quickly realize how much of an ass he was acting like and
do something about it.
    The idea of her driving off with
Alex again did not sit well with Rhett, but he knew what his friend had said
made sense, and if he voiced what he was thinking it would only make things
worse. “That sounds reasonable.” He forced himself to speak calmly, though in
his mind he was imagining beating the shit out of Alex.
    Leah walked back to the car and slid
into the passenger’s seat, trembling in anger. She loved Rhett, but if this was
how he was going to react to the slightest little thing, she wasn’t sure she
could live with it, with him. Fighting back tears she found herself wondering
if Janie had been right.
    Not sure what to say to the young
woman in the passenger’s seat, Alex slid into the driver’s seat, started the
engine and quickly shifted into gear. Within moments they were out of the
grounds and on the road, which seemed to be some sort of trigger for Leah for
she burst into tears almost the second they passed beyond the gates.
    “Everything is going to be fine,
Leah,” Alex said, knowing he had to do something, though even to his ears his
words sounded lame. He simply didn’t know her well enough to have the slightest
clue what would work to calm her down. “Maybe we should go back,” he suggested
uncertainly.
    “I can’t.” Leah attempted to calm
down. “I just think maybe I was wrong to believe this could work.” She hated
saying the words, but Rhett was proving he still had some major issues that
needed to be dealt with. “I don’t have anywhere else to go though.” The tears
started again and she found herself wondering how the hell she had managed to get
herself into the mess she found herself in right then. No best friend and
things were a mess with her fiancé.
    Silent, Alex thought long and hard
about the situation he had managed to find himself in the middle of. “You’re
going to come stay with me until you’ve decided what you want to do.” Even as
he said the words he found himself hoping he wasn’t getting in over his head.
He’d just met Leah, while Rhett had been his friend for most of his life, he
didn’t want to do anything that would alienate his friend, but felt he had to
do what his instincts told him to.
    She wanted to refuse, it didn’t seem
right for her to stay with him when she barely knew him, but she couldn’t go
back to Janie’s condo. That left her with few choices, and none of them were
all that great; sleep on the streets, go back to Mississippi, or accept his
offer. “Thank you.” She couldn’t manage to force any other words through her
lips, and again she made herself a promise that when she got out of the mess
she was in she would never again depend on anyone.
    The drive to his hotel passed in
silence. Leah was too humiliated at having to accept the hospitality of a
virtual stranger, not that she wasn’t appreciative of his generosity, to say
anything. Alex on the other hand was wondering what it was about the young
woman next to him that made people react the way they did.