Heart of Light by T. K. Leigh Page A

he smiled at her.
    “Hey! Tomorrow! Back to earth. You are so checking out Cam and not even trying to hide it, girlfriend. Come on. You’re practically drooling. And what was that? Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say that you love Cam’s smolder?” She giggled.
    Jolene snapped back to reality, looking at her new friend, who was grinning from ear-to-ear.
    “You’re blushing so hard right now. Looks like you’ve got it pretty bad for my boyfriend’s best friend, don’t you?” She took a long drag from her beer, emptying it.
    Jolene relaxed back into her chair. “I know that I should hate him for the way he treated me this morning, but then… I don’t know.” She exhaled loudly as she recalled the few encounters she had with Cam throughout the day. “Even when he was all pissed, I saw this warmth in his eyes. It was almost like it was harder for him to be a prick than it should have been if that was truly what he was like. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
    “No. You’re right,” Elsie said in agreement. “Cam is definitely not an ass or a prick, but he’s certainly been hurt in the past. The last girl did a number on him. That whole fiasco was a train wreck we all saw coming for miles, but he refused to see it for himself.”
    She grabbed two more beers from their server, nodding in appreciation and handing a bottle to Jolene. “I’m just going to warn you, and I apologize if I come off a bit bitchy, but I need to be straightforward here. I like you. He likes you. But I love him like I would a brother. He’s always been there for me, no matter what. Don’t get involved with him if you have no intention of having anything serious or long-term with him. I finally saw my real friend today after months of him being absent, and I know that I have you to thank for that. You brought him back. I’m not sure how you did it, but you did. I want him to stay. So if you being here does it for him, I’m happy. But please, no matter what you do, don’t hurt him.”
    Elsie’s candor surprised Jolene but, at the same time, she knew her concerns came from a good place. Elsie was someone who cared so much for her friend that she felt compelled to make sure Jolene was good enough for him. She realized Elsie was the type of person to bend over backwards for you no matter what…to help you through whatever crisis life threw at you. Someone she could trust with her deepest and darkest secrets.
    “My real name’s Jolene,” she said quietly, surprised at the words leaving her mouth, but she couldn’t stop. She wanted to tell someone, and she knew that it should be Elsie. “I spent the last ten years of my life locked away and auctioned off to the highest bidder on a nightly basis for them to do whatever they wanted.”
    Elsie stared at her in shock, stunned that she just shared so much personal information with her. “Tomorrow…”
    “A man appeared on my doorstep when I was just fifteen-years-old with a document giving him guardianship over me until I was eighteen. I thought it was my lucky day, getting to go live in a beautiful new place and have people wait on me hand and foot. Then I turned eighteen and it all changed. He changed.” She nervously scanned the bar, now that her big secret was out there in the open.
    “Who?”
    “I’m not ready to say that, Elsie. He has very powerful friends all over the country. One slip of the name and it’s over for me. I know it’s stupid, but I can’t risk anyone…” Her voice grew quiet and unsteadied. She lowered her gaze as she nervously fidgeted with her beer bottle.
    Elsie reached across the table, stopping just short of her hand, surprising her when she didn’t touch her. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I get it. Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me. I won’t say anything, not even to Benny.”
    “So you understand why, if I leave, it’s not to hurt you or Cam or anyone else. It’s to protect you…and myself.” She