Fool's Gold (Contemporary Romance) by Clara Frost Read Free Book Online Page B

paid with her card, hoping it wasn’t already at the limit, then hopped out of the car. The cab driver gave her the suitcase and a quick bow, then roared off.
    “Sorry about that,” Christine said. “Come on upstairs.”
    Victoria spun slowly, looking at the building. Brownstones lined the street, each three or four stories tall. None had a yard, though a few had fenced areas separating them from the sidewalk.
    “What are you doing?” Christine shifted her weight impatiently.
    “Just taking in the neighborhood. I’ve never been to the city before.”
    “You get used to it. Eventually.” Christine grinned. “Come upstairs and I’ll take you out on the roof.”
    Victoria followed her inside. “What’s on the roof?”
    “Not much. But you can see the whole north end of Manhattan.”
    “Wow.”
    Victoria dragged the suitcase up the stairs and stopped behind Christine on the third floor. The stairwell wasn’t much. Peeling paint and faded linoleum. Victoria hoped the apartment was nicer.
    “Here we are.” Christine pushed the door open and led the way inside.
    The apartment was actually bigger than Victoria expected. A cozy living room opened out from the front door.
    “That’ll be your room.” Christine pointed to an awkwardly shaped bedroom with a futon in it. Victoria took the suitcase in and left it. The unpacking could wait. There wasn’t much room left over after she left the suitcase.
    Christine motioned her forward. “This is the kitchen.” It was bigger than Beta’s. Barely. She passed back through the living room and pushed open a closed door. “And my room.” It actually had a bed, but only a double.
    Victoria took it all in. “It’s cozy.”
    “It’s cheap. I’m not here a lot, so it doesn’t bother me.” Christine went to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of wine from a rack below a narrow butcher’s block. “Now we need drinks.”
    “Gladly.” Victoria took the offered glass of wine, then got out of the way as Christine carried the bottle to the front door.
    “This way.” Christine led her up another half flight of stairs and out onto the blacktopped roof. “You can come up here whenever you want, but be sure to lock the door when you come back inside.”
    “Burglars?”
    “Nah. It doesn’t latch very well otherwise.” Christine swept around the doorway and stopped by the ledge on the opposite side of the building.
    Manhattan stretched out beyond her.
    It wasn’t a perfect view, certainly not one a photographer would envy, but it was still magnificent. Victoria didn’t even notice the train tracks that obscured the waterline until a train rumbled past.
    “Passenger trains. That’s the Long Island Railroad.” Christine pointed with her empty wine glass.
    “Do I need to buy tickets or anything?”
    “Oh, you really don’t know anything about the city do you?”
    “Not really.” Trent had talked about places to eat and things to do, but not the day to day logistics. Victoria reached for her phone. With the crowd and the cab ride she’d forgotten to tell Trent she was on the ground.
    Christine was saying something about a metro pass, but Victoria didn’t quite catch it. “...And it beats having a car payment and dealing with parking.”
    Victoria hit send on the “I’m alive, sorry I forgot to call” text and turned her attention back to her hostess. “Where do I get that?”
    “Any station. I’ll take you into Manhattan tomorrow and you can talk to Chelsea at the restaurant about getting a job.”
    “Sounds good.” And it did. She was ready to hit the ground running. To get a fresh start on a new life and never look back.
    ***
    Everything was quiet when Victoria rolled out of the futon and wandered out into the living room. The apartment was still dark, even though the clock said it was a quarter past nine. Victoria had a feeling Christine liked to sleep in.
    The door to Christine’s room gaped open, and the closet light illuminated a mussed, empty bed.