Edge of Shadows (Shadows #1) by Cege Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

into his hand. “Here’s your usual. It’s on me.” She winked at Ellie and strolled away.
    Ellie blushed and caught herself before shouting something nasty in Linda’s direction. That wouldn’t give David a very favorable impression of her. When she looked back at him, he seemed perfectly at ease. His aura had settled into a pretty shade of blue.
    “Your employees seem to be a bit out of control,” he noted as he took a sip of his coffee, grinning into his cup.
    “Out of control doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she sighed. She gathered her paperwork and placed it in a stack off to the side. She was terrified of engaging in whatever this was, but at the same time she didn’t want David to leave. The last thing she was ready to do was open up about herself.
    Looking into his blue eyes, she searched for something to say. “How old are you, David?” she asked. Deflection was a great weapon.
    “I’m twenty-nine, and though I appreciate the interest, we can talk about me anytime. I’m not the one that needs somebody to just shut up and listen. I want to talk about you.”
    His eyes twinkled and Ellie lost her train of thought again for a moment. She cleared her throat to gain her composure. She was acting like she’d never been around a man in her life!
    “Really, David, I appreciate the gesture. But I barely know you and I’m sure my life isn’t that interesting,” she said.
    “Well, how do people get to know each other if they don’t start a conversation? I know that I’ve wanted to get to know you better for quite a while. This seems like an ideal time, since I’m already here.” He sipped his coffee again and then sat in silence.
    “What do you want to know?” Ellie was curious and flattered. He had wanted to get to know her better for quite a while? Ellie was lucky that she could remember what she did yesterday, so any interest from David could have easily gone by unnoticed. That got her mind spinning on what crazy, inane things he had witnessed her doing or saying during his previous visits.
    “Okay, let’s start with the basics.” David set his coffee down and rubbed his hands together as if devising some kind of scheme.
    Ellie couldn’t help but laugh at the silly gesture. There was something about him that made her feel warm inside, like she had known him before. She could feel herself relaxing into the conversation. David seemed interested, and she was definitely interested in him.
    “Your name is Ellie Coulter,” David started.
    “Elizabeth,” Ellie corrected. “Elizabeth Coulter.”
    “See? I’ve learned something about you already.” David seemed delighted by that tidbit of information. “You own this fabulous establishment called Ellie’s Coffee Isle. Very clever, I might add, and great personal branding. You have a dog named Skipper.” David was ticking the items off on his hand.
    “Now, since you were so bold as to ask me how old I was, I’d like to ask the same. I realize it’s not proper, but you can’t be more than twenty-five. How old are you, Ms. Coulter?”
    Ellie laughed and decided to play along. “Although it is quite impertinent to ask a woman’s age, sir, I am not ashamed to say that I am thirty-three.”
    “A good and fine age.” David nodded solemnly.
    She watched his face carefully for any indication that the fact that she was older than him was going to bother him. There was none.
    “Of course, I still think you’re twenty-five and just trying to be more grown up,” he teased.
    “Nope. I wouldn’t go back to twenty-five for anything.” The words were spoken with a bit too much conviction, and David picked up on it right away.
    “Why?” he asked.
    Ellie sighed. It seemed inevitable that she was going to have to let some information loose. “At twenty-five I didn’t know what I wanted or where I was going. I didn’t have my business yet, and I was in the midst of making the biggest mistake of my life.”
    “And that was…” David