Consumed by a Stranger (Craved Series #4) by Hazel Kelly Read Free Book Online Page A

about."
     
    Her
eyes glanced down and then back up at me. "Jack, I don't want you to be
disappointed when you find out I'm just a regular girl."
     
    "There's
no such thing as a regular girl, and even if there was, you're not it. You're
exceptional."
     
    "The
only thing exceptional about me is how blown away I am by your resolve right
now."
     
    "We
don't have time for that kind of blasphemy," I said. "Is it that you
don't know what you want? Is that why you can't just answer the question?"
     
    "Well,
I don't have a list of requirements or anything."
     
    "Shoot
from the hip then."
     
    She
took a deep breath. "I like men who are smart and I admire ambition, but I
suppose a good sense of humor is the most important thing."
     
    "What
else?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. 
     
    "I
don't think men have to be assholes to be sexy," she said. "I mean,
nobody wants a doormat, but I like men who are considerate of other people,
especially people they don't have to be nice to… if that makes sense."
     
    "Sure,"
I said. "What else?" 
     
    "I
want someone with a high energy level, someone who can keep me from getting too
set in my ways."
     
    I
laughed. "Set in your ways?"
     
    She
sighed. "I have a tendency to hide myself away with books and box sets. Sometimes
I forget to be social."
     
    "That's
hard to imagine."
     
    "Megan's
great for dragging me out, but it would be nice to find someone who could share
the load."
     
    "Maybe
I'm not the guy for you then."
     
    "Why
do you say that?"
     
    "Cause
if you were mine, I'd be delighted if you wanted to stay in bed all day and not
go out."
     
    "Yeah,
but if you were in the bed, too, then it wouldn't be antisocial."
     
    "Good
point," I said. "And I could make a special effort to make sure our
time together was particularly high energy."
     
    "It
might be worth a try."
     
    "Then
again, if you were mine, I'd want to show you off, too. So I’d probably constantly
be thinking of places to take you where other people could see how good you
looked on my arm."
     
    "There
you go. Maybe it wouldn't be such a disaster after all," she said. "What
else would we do if I were yours?"
     
    "Anything
you wanted. The better question to ask would be what couldn't we do?"
     
    "Okay,
then. What couldn't we do?"
     
    "Be
apart for too long," I said. "Cause I'd go mental. The last two weeks
really tore me up."
     
    "I
don't buy it," she said. "Someone as adventurous as you pining away
for someone like me?"
     
    "You
don't have to buy it, but it's the truth." I took a sip of my wine and set
the glass down, relishing the taste of wine that hadn't been cooking on the
shelves of 7/11 for six months. "And for the record, my pining isn’t a
reflection on my ability to be independent."
     
    "No?"
     
    "Not
at all," I said. "Because I don't need you, Audrey. I want you.
There's a big difference."
     
    "And
what's that?" 
     
    I
leaned back in my chair. "I can live without you. I just don't want
to."
     
    "I
see."
     
    "And
there's another big difference, too," I said, fixing my eyes on her.  
     
    "Oh?”
She cocked her head. “And what might that be?”
     
    "I
don't always get what I need.”
     
     
     
     

Chapter
11: Audrey
     
     
     
    I
was normally a nervous dater. History had proven that Murphy's Law seemed to
apply more consistently to my love life than anywhere else. 
     
    But
I was so comfortable with Jack. It was an ease I imagined people only felt after
they'd been with someone for years, someone who consistently chose to wake up
in the morning and love them for another day for so many days in a row that
they could finally relax.
     
    And
while I'd never had that, this fleeting glimpse of it was compelling, like a
bright light it wasn’t safe to stare at.
     
    I
was used to feeling so much pressure to impress guys. I was always conscious of
my body language, how hard I laughed at their jokes, and how often other women
caught their eye. 
     
    But
I didn't have to worry about that with