Caught Up in You by Sophie Swift Read Free Book Online Page A

was kind of reading that,” Vee complained, returning to the bar.
    “Oh, sorry.” I made a move toward the trash but she waved me off.
    “Just leave it.”
    “You’re the only person under the age of thirty who actually still reads the newspaper.”
    She shrugged and slid into one of the bar stools, resting her chin in her hand. “It doesn’t feel like news when it’s on a screen.”
    Hank’s was dead today. Although to be fair, it was only eleven in the morning. But still. Our alcoholic morning drinkers were very loyal. Apparently they had all decided to drink at home today. Or turn sober.
    I decided to wash bar glasses. Vee watched me for a moment before finally sighing and coming around the bar to stand next to me. “Here,” she said, grabbing a towel and holding out her hand for the wet glass.
    I laughed. “I didn’t ask for your help.”
    “You may as well have. You look so helpless back there.”
    I balked at this. “Me? Helpless? Please! I was born to wash dishes.”
    She smiled and grabbed the wet wine glass from my hand, her fingers sliding against mine and lingering for just a moment too long.
    And then I understood.
    Wow, Alex and Lia must have really fucked me up good if I couldn’t even tell when a girl was flirting with me. Vee flashed me a smile as she dried the wine glass and hung it in the rack above our heads. I noticed how she stood on her tiptoes to reach and pressed herself toward me in an effort to slide the glass all the way down the half-empty row.
    Her tiny black tank top hugged her breasts perfectly, allowing for just the slightest hint of cleavage to peek out of the top.
    Her eyes caught mine as her hand came down. And she smiled.
    I blinked and turned my attention back to the sink.
    “So,” she said, as I handed her another clean glass. “ Did you used to work there? At that place they’re auctioning off.”
    “Yeah.”
    She must have seen the tension in my jaw or my hands or my biceps because she immediately followed up her question with, “Whoa. Sore spot?”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    “Kinda sad the way it’s being torn to pieces. I wonder what happened.”
    I shrugged and plunged my hands back in the water. “I don’t really care, actually.”
    She chuckled. “Okay, definitely a sore spot.” She threw the towel down on the counter and leaned back against the bar. “Spill.”
    I eyed the abandoned towel. “I thought you were helping me.”
    “I am.”
    I laughed at her attempt to offer me therapy and started scrubbing another wine glass.
    Vee waited. She even made an impatient gesture, wheeling her hand around in a circle.
    I sighed. “There’s nothing to tell. I used to work there. It didn’t pan out. End of story.”
    Suddenly the sound of breaking glass startled me and I looked down to see I had scrubbed the wine glass so hard, I’d shattered it. 
    Fortunately it hadn’t cut me. It was just a mess in the sink.
    “Uh uh,” Vee said, pushing off of the bar, and walking back around to check on her table.
    “Shit,” I swore, and started picking up the large pieces and dropping them into the trash.
    “You know,” Vee said, tapping on the bar top with her knuckles to get my attention. “When you make a mess of something like that, you should probably clean it up.”
    “I am cleaning it up,” I started to protest but her wry smile as she strutted away told me she wasn’t referring to the wine glass.
    “ I didn’t make the mess!” I shouted after her.
    “I’m just saying,” she called back over her shoulder.
     

Twelve
    Later that afternoon, I found myself reluctantly parking behind what used to be La Bella Vita and what would soon be some kind of high-end retail center.
    I knew Lia was here because I saw her car in the lot. She was probably packing up and preparing for the auction tomorrow.
    What are you doing?  I asked myself as I cut the engine and stared at the back door.
    I’m cleaning up my mess , I replied.
    But it wasn’t my mess. I