Midnight Run by Charity Hillis Read Free Book Online

brain had conjured up of Nora in bed
beside him. Don’t be a flake, he admonished himself,
dragging his thoughts away from Nora and focusing on the barista
he’d been mooning over. How can you forget those big brown
eyes? Sure, Nora was fine to look at, but he was pretty sure he
was only obsessing over her because of their intimate cool down
session. Quit thinking with your balls, boy.
    Drawing his thoughts firmly away from the
runner, Kingston tried to recall the details of the other face that
had filled his mind for days. I wish I knew her name. He
focused on remembering every detail from the few times they’d met;
the way her hair hung in loose waves around her face; the sweet,
simple honesty that shone out of her gaze; the particular way her
apron clung to her in all the right places. Kingston smiled, but
his thoughts couldn’t quite let go of Nora, and in his tired state
just before he finally dropped off to sleep, Kingston decided that
the runner sort of reminded him of the barista.
    He woke up with a stiff neck, and when he
rolled over to check the clock, he cursed softly. He’d slept way
past his alarm, which he realized with a sinking heart he’d never
set, and he sprang out of bed and started pulling on his clothes.
There was only one clean suit hanging in his closet, and Kingston
cursed himself again. “How did you forget to send out the dry
cleaning this weekend? Get it together, boy.” As his fingers
hurriedly buttoned up his crisp blue shirt, he promised himself
he’d stop mooning over the girl at the coffee shop. In fact, he
decided, he wouldn’t even go there for a week.
    His resolve lasted until lunch time. No one
had chastised him for his late arrival at the office, although
Carrie had pouted angrily when he swept in, and Kingston had thrown
himself into work that morning to make up for being tardy. But
despite his best intentions, when he left the office at noon, his
feet led him directly to the little coffee shop, and he scanned the
space eagerly, hoping for a glimpse of her.
    Another girl was behind the counter, and he
vaguely remembered seeing her before when PB had been working. As
he approached the register, inspiration struck, and he smiled down
at the barista.
    “How’s it going today, hon?”
    She grinned up at him. “Better now that
you’re here. You’re becoming quite the regular.”
    Kingston paused. “You could say that,” he
said, his eyes drifting away from her face as he tried to catch a
look at the back room behind the counter.
    “So, what’ll it be?”
    Dragging his eyes back to her, he smiled.
“Cup of coffee, to go. What’s your name?”
    Her eyes got wide, and her smile nearly broke
her face. “Laurel. What’s yours?”
    “Kingston,” he said, his gaze skimming over
the girl and looking behind her once more. “Um, do you like working
here?”
    She leaned forward, and Kingston caught a
flash of a hot pink bra strap, and he swallowed nervously. “It’s
okay, I guess.” Her eyes traveled down his body before returning to
his face. “You make it loads better.”
    Kingston took the cup of coffee she offered,
trying not to let the barista’s obvious interest distract him. “Do
you, er, like your coworkers?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Who wants to talk about
them? I’d rather hear about you,” she offered suggestively, leaning
forward even more.
    Kingston took a step back. “Nothing much to
tell,” he said, glancing behind the counter one last time before
retreating to the door with a wave. Laurel looked annoyed, but he
was too frustrated with himself to really notice.
    Sipping his coffee as he walked, he shook his
head ruefully. “That totally backfired,” he grumbled to himself.
“Now she probably thinks I’m interested in her!” With a sigh, he
downed the rest of his coffee and headed back to work, promising
himself that he’d do his best to forget the mysterious barista.
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER NINE
    Nora’s hands were shaking
as she