Red by Kate Serine Read Free Book Online Page A

you ?”
    “I asked you first,” I snapped, inexplicable anger making my voice loud in the close hallway.
    Nate smoothly edged in front of me. “Miss, we need to talk to Mr. Wolf regarding a matter of utmost importance. Could you please tell us where we can find him?”
    She narrowed her eyes at Nate, studying him intently. “How about you tell me where he can find you ?”
    “Tell him Tess Little was here,” I said. “He’ll know how to find me.”
    With that, I turned on my heel and practically fled the stifling confines of the apartment building, bursting through the doors and out into the open where I could breathe again. I took in great gulps of cool air, trying to calm my racing heart. When that didn’t work, I bent forward, bracing my hands against my knees for a moment, trying to pull myself together before Nate came out.
    “Red?”
    Damn. Too late.
    “Leave me alone,” I mumbled, straightening quickly and rushing to the car. I jerked open the door and dropped into the seat. I ran my hands through my hair, then down over my face to regain my composure.
    Nate got in a moment later and sat in silence for a few seconds before asking, “You okay?”
    “Just go,” I ordered. “I just want to get out of here.”
    Nate obediently started the car but didn’t put it into gear. “I’ve been there, you know.”
    “Good for you. Now, let’s go.”
    “You don’t have a monopoly on broken hearts,” he went on in spite of my obvious lack of enthusiasm for the topic.
    When it became apparent he wasn’t going to start driving unless I started talking, I sighed and said, “Okay. I’ll bite. What was her name?”
    “Pandora.”
    This made me blink in surprise. “ The Pandora?”
    Nate put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. “One and the same.”
    The wicked little devil on my shoulder snickered and prodded me to make some innuendo-laden crack about Pandora’s box, but I resisted. Instead I said, “Are you kidding me?”
    He cast an offended glance my way. “Why is that so hard to believe?”
    I shrugged. “Well, you’re Death. ”
    Nate’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “There’s more to me than this job, Red.”
    I turned my gaze upon him, studying his profile for a long moment. The shadows had dissipated, but the intensity of his expression hadn’t. I immediately felt bad for pigeonholing him so unfairly. I’d been struggling to break away from my storybook persona for so long now, I’d forgotten I probably wasn’t the only one.
    “I’m sorry,” I apologized. “Of course there’s more to you. I’m learning that more and more with every minute we spend together.” When I saw the slight flush on his cheeks and felt my own growing warm, I quickly added, “So, what happened?”
    “Nothing.”
    I frowned at him. “If you didn’t want to talk about it, why’d you bring it up?”
    Nate glanced over at me and chuckled. “No, I mean, nothing happened. Ever. I was just infatuated with her from afar. She didn’t even know I existed—well, you know, not in this form.”
    “Okay. . . . So what’s your point?”
    “I guess my point is you can’t expect the other person to sit around and wait for you if he doesn’t even know how you feel.”
    “So, we’re back to the fact that I haven’t talked to Seth since we came over?” I demanded angrily. “I didn’t say I expected him to pine for me all these years and not move on. I was just blindsided, okay?”
    “That was pretty obvious.”
    “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t moved on,” I continued. “I’ve been with plenty of people.”
    “I’m aware of that.”
    I jerked back a little at his remark. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    Nate sighed. “Listen, I don’t mean to offend you or anything. I’ve just known you for a while now and have never seen you really stick it out with anyone for very long.”
    “So what?” I demanded.
    “Come on, Red,” Nate replied, chancing a glance at me.