Bite This! by Tasha Black Read Free Book Online

park on the corner with its six trees was the closest thing to the wilderness he had experienced. Even now, Finn considered anything west of 69th street to be the ‘burbs, and even Drexel Vale with its close-set neighborhoods of Tudors with adjoining garages was practically spooky in his eyes.
    This right here though, this felt borderline abandoned.
    How could the bright lights of the city be less than an hour behind them?
    Darcy pulled off of I-95 and onto a side street. Little clapboard houses sat like islands on seas of green grass. As they traveled, the homes got bigger and so did the trees that lined the streets. Gigantic colonials and epic Victorians peered out from behind the massive oaks and sycamores - porches with flags stretching out like waving hands. One of them literally had a picket fence.
    Finn could practically feel a ring growing on his hand and 2.5 kids springing up in the backseat.
    Oh man, the kid.
    He glanced back.
    Unbelievably, the boy was sleeping. He looked a bit like a shrunken Finn, curled up in his big shirt with too-long dark hair brushing the collar.
    That would be a good trick. Except that the union wouldn’t want a kid performing in a casino.
    He had no time to think about it, because Darcy was pulling the car into a parking lot.
    A sign in front proclaimed
    The Barry White Diner - Open 24/7 for a little slice of Heaven
    Nice.

10
    D arcy sat with her back to the wall of the corner-most booth of the Barry White Diner, feeling as safe and secure as any woman who had just kissed her employment good-bye to save a magician and a kid from a shadow demon-infested casino parking garage could be.
    The kid was warm and cozy by her side. He clearly felt right at home with her, like he knew she’d had dozens of little brothers and sisters over the years at the farm.
    Or more likely because he had seen that she could kick butt and haul ass like a race car driver and that for whatever reason she had decided she would rather lay down her life than see him come to harm.
    Smart kid.
    He’d even let her comb out his messy hair and roll up the sleeves and cuffs of the shirt and jeans of Finn’s that he was wearing, so he looked slightly more presentable.
    No one in the crowded diner was staring. Tarker’s Hollow was like that - residents were prone to turning a blind eye to the unusual.
    The kid still wasn’t talking though. Something had really shaken him up.
    Darcy grabbed her coffee and swallowed a bitter black sip to assuage her anger. It was scalding and delicious - just the way she liked it.
    Across from her, Finn lazily watched the cream drift out of the container and swirl into his coffee.
    She tried not to stare as he added so much sugar that his spoon could probably stand up in the cup.
    He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small metal flask, unscrewed the lid, and unceremoniously poured some of the fragrant brown liquid into his coffee.
    She raised an eyebrow.
    He smirked and tilted the flask in her direction, offering it to her with a wink.
    Dammit, she felt her cheeks get warm again. She needed to get out more, Finn was hot, but she shouldn’t be blushing like a school girl.
    “I’m good,” she said. “Why are you always winking at me?”
    “Seems like you like it,” he replied, grinning wickedly.
    “Well, I don’t. It’s… it’s…”
    “What?” he asked, his deep voice sexier than ever.
    “It’s condescending,” she finished, looking pointedly down at her coffee.
    “I see. I’ll try to keep a lid on it,” he said solemnly.
    Before they could say anything more, the waitress arrived.
    “Barry Special, cheese burger, aaaand chocolate chip pancakes,” she said with a big smile at the kid.
    “Thanks, Lisa,” Darcy replied, pushing her coffee to the side to make room.
    The kid perked right up. Darcy slid the pancakes his way and he grabbed his silverware and went to town. It all solidified her opinion that the poor little guy hadn’t been eating very