Leo Maddox by Sarah Darlington Read Free Book Online Page A

felt.

CHAPTER 6:
     
     
     
    I stepped inside the Alligator Lounge. It was a bar. Small, intimate, and it smelled of pizza and beer. Music thumped and my heart pounded in a heavy rhythm to match. My nerves were shot and I wasn’t sure how I was going to hide that tonight. I’d had to ditch Regina to make it here in time.
    But I was here.
    I’d chosen casual clothes—not my usual style. If I was trying to impress anyone else, I would have worn one of my suits. But Clara wasn’t anyone else. The usual things didn’t impress her. And I felt a little uncomfortable not dressed in my typical armor. Not a single person around me even noticed my presence. So, actually, my clothes situation—maybe it wasn’t such a bad change.
    I choose an empty seat at the end of the bar, my eyes scanning the room for Clara’s blonde hair. So far I couldn’t find her. Shit. What if her invitation was some kind of cruel joke? My stomach flip-flopped and my breathing wasn’t quite right.
    “Yeah, that seat’s taken,” the bartender said to me, approaching and patting his palm at the bar top. “Find another.”
    I glared at him. The place wasn’t very busy and there were plenty of other empty seats around me. “I’ll have a Sam Adams Summer Ale, please,” I ordered, ignoring his comment.
    He walked away, not acknowledging my order.
    What an asshole.
    Suddenly I felt a small tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found Clara standing behind me. She’d dyed her hair purple. Like lavender purple. And I fucking loved it. It fit her. But I wasn’t really looking at her hair. With me sitting and Clara standing, we were exactly eye level. “Oh, there you are,” I muttered, feeling a whole mixture of emotions. She was here. She was safe. She was more gorgeous in this moment than ever before.
    Neither of us spoke, but I couldn’t peel my eyes off her. The strangest part of all, she seemed to be having a similar problem. It was like…for the first time in her entire life, she was noticing me. Not just the suit, or my money, or my hair, or my smile—I think she was noticing something else. Whatever it was, it helped me start to relax some.
    Well…until the bartender returned and rapped his knuckles against the bar top, much harder this second time. My small moment with Clara evaporated. “What did I tell you, dude? That seat's taken,” the guy said.
    Again, what an asshole.
    “It looks unoccupied to me,” I said, my voice nowhere near its usual calm and composed nature. “Why don't you do your job, stop bugging me about my seat, and get me the drink I ordered….do I have to ask you twice?”
    The bartender leaned over the counter, glaring at me. “If you don't lose the attitude and stop harassing the other customers, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave.”
    “I'm not harassing anyone,” I said through clenched teeth.
    “The pretty girl standing right next to you? That's her seat you're sitting in. Move now or I'm going to come over there and move your ass for you.”
    My ass instantly moved out of the seat. Not for him, but for Clara. “I didn't mean to steal your seat,” I said in one breath, having to pass awfully close to Clara as I moved.
    Rolling her eyes at me, she sat down. But then she did something incredibly shocking—she smiled. “Do you have to pick a fight every night of the week?”
    Staring down at her, I almost laughed. What was going on with us? We were actually getting along. “No, Sunday's are my day off,” I joked.
    The bartender lingered. What the hell was his problem? “Oh, you're here with her?” he commented. “Sorry, man. I just never would have put the two of you together.”
    “What that hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded, wanting to kick his ass all over again. For the first time in my life I had time alone with Clara—this random asshole was stealing it all.
    “Looks can be deceiving,” Clara commented. Were her words meant for me or him? I didn’t have time to