Lost to You by A. L. Jackson Read Free Book Online

me with a gentle smile.
    I was so right on about her. She was the nicest girl, innocent and sweet. And sexy as all hell. That was the only problem with this whole friendship thing. How could I reconcile the respect I had for her and want to peel the clothes from her body every single time I saw her?
    I was pretty sure something in that equation didn’t add up.
    I smirked at her just because I liked the way she blushed every time I did. “Now you owe me.”
    She blushed deeper at the insinuation and dropped her head, and I couldn’t help but wonder just how innocent she was. I knew I had to watch myself, to keep everything that wanted to push its way out in check if I was going to successfully walk this fine line.
    I gathered my things. “You ready?”
    She looked up as the redness from her face slowly seeped away. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
    We turned and headed in the direction of her apartment.
    She glanced at me, smiling. “So, are you walking me home?”
    “It’s on my way.”
    She laughed because we both knew it really wasn’t, though it wasn’t completely out of the way, either. Just in the wrong direction by two short blocks.
    No big deal.
    We wandered casually through the evening crowd, neither of us in a hurry, just satisfied to be in the other’s company. I liked that it could be so easy with her.
    Elizabeth continued to talk as we approached her building, while my attention darted to the guy leaning against her wall as we passed. Elizabeth didn’t seem to even notice him, her consideration fully on me as she ambled toward her door. But there was just something that didn’t sit right. He tilted his chin up, enough for his eyes to take her in. This instinctual protectiveness rose up from somewhere inside me, an urge to wrap my arm around her waist and pull her to my side.
    Of course, Elizabeth had to live in the shittiest building she possibly could, and on top of it, lived by herself. I hated it.
    She paused at her door, rocked back on her heels as she hooked her thumbs in her backpack straps. “So maybe I’ll see you around this weekend?”
    My eyes went back to the guy against the wall. There were plenty of freaks in New York City, but most seemed harmless and didn’t garner a second thought. Not this guy. There was just something about him that nagged at my consciousness.
    I looked back at Elizabeth. Not a chance in hell would I leave her here by herself.
    I shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t have any plans tonight. Why don’t we order in and watch a movie, or something?”
    Her eyes narrowed in speculation, as if she was thrown off by my sudden suggestion.
    I looked back at the guy who was obviously watching us. I guess I was thrown, too.
    “Two Fridays in a row?” She peeked back at me with her brow raised high, then pulled the door opened and held it wide for me as she passed, already expecting me to follow. “Are you sure you’re not trying to get into my panties?”
    I choked out a laugh as I followed her in. Did she have any idea how that sounded coming from her mouth? I shook my head and jogged up the stairs behind her. Apparently, Elizabeth was missing an important distinction. I wasn’t trying to get into her panties. I was trying desperately not to.
    She let us into her apartment. It was messier than last week, a week’s worth of clothes strewn around on the floor.
    “Sorry. Let me pick up really quick. I wasn’t expecting company.”
    She dashed around the small room, plucking up shirts and underwear and random mismatched socks. She balled them up in a pile her arms before she heaved out a satisfied breath as she tossed them into the hamper against the wall. “All done.”
    God. Did she really have to be so fucking adorable?
    “So”—she swung her hands out to clap them in front of her—“are you hungry?”
    “I could eat.”
    She brushed past me as she wandered into the kitchen area and opened a drawer where she’d stuffed a bunch of menus. “What are you in