Release by Louise J Read Free Book Online

Saff was eight. My sister and her two
year old son are my only blood, but we have others who are our family also.”
    Her brow furrows. “I didn’t
realize,” she says, quietly.
    I smile to ease her. “Why
would you know something like that? You’ve only been told the stuff that’s
common knowledge and relevant to you.”
    “Where you’re from is
relevant ... to me it is, anyway.” The coffee receives all of her focus, for
the second time, so I wait until she looks at me before responding to that.
    “Would knowing something
like that add substance to your opinion of me?”
    Her stare hardens, showing
all that determination, and fucking hell it’s hot. “I don’t appreciate you
challenging me like that.”
    I smile again, unable to
stop myself. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t look at me like that.”
    She flops against the back
of her seat, kind of sloppy for someone who sits as upright as she was a second
ago. “You are proper confusing me right now.”
    “Confusing you?”
    “You said it yourself; I
only know what I’ve been told about you. The whole point of this is to get to
know you and form my own opinion. To do that I have to ask you things, and of
course those things should add substance. For me they need to. Regarding your
problem with the way I look at you, there isn’t much I can do about it since I
can’t see my own face.” She sighs, peering out the window. “This was such a bad
fucking idea.”
    Now she seems angry with
herself, and I feel shitty for getting her all confused like that.
    I lean forward, to get
closer. “When the topic of my family came up, you looked uncomfortable. I was
just trying to ease that, so yes I challenged you, just as you have been me,
but I’m not playing games here. I told you already, no bullshit. As for the way
you looked at me, you didn’t do anything wrong. If you wanted to make me hard
then you did everything right, but since you’re not the type of woman who just fucks, and I have to be at work soon it’s kind of a waste, don’t you
think?”
    A moment of stunned laughter
sounds from her. “How the heck did we switch from the topic of family to
erections as quickly as that?”
    It’s obviously a
hypothetical question, so I don’t respond to it.  
    Sipping her coffee, Brooklyn
frowns and complains to herself that it’s not warm enough. Raising her hand, at
the same time straightening her spine, she waves to the waitress and, when
served, nicely asks if it’s possible to have the coffee put in the microwave
for twenty seconds.
    “Well, at least I got to hear
you laugh, even if it was brief,” I say before taking a drink of my own now
cooler beverage.
    “That could be taken to mean
you think I’m miserable. Either that or you really are happy to hear me
chuckle. You have nice teeth, by the way,” she says, her gaze trained on my
full grin. Her right brow arches, and we’re back to confident, playful
Brooklyn.
    She really shouldn’t look at
me like that, either. It’s got me wanting to charge across this table and
pounce on her like some crazed predatory cat ready to fucking mate.
    “You’re not miserable.
You’ve smiled a lot, even if those smiles at times have been hesitant, but you
haven’t laughed. I do like it.” We haven’t exactly discussed anything funny.
     “I laugh a lot,
usually. I’m sure after a while I’d get on your nerves with it. My friends
often tell me to shut up. I can be a bit loud sometimes.”
    “Get on my nerves, huh? I
doubt it.” I’m damn serious about that.  
    “We’ll see.” She’s hitting
me back with the same certain eye contact I’m giving.
    “I hope we will.”
    In silence, we stare at each
other. And there it is, the pale pink color infusing with the light olive tone
of her cheeks. Hell, I even find that hot, what is it with this woman? I’ve had
at least a semi hard-on for most of the time I’ve been sat here.
    Brooklyn’s coffee is
returned. Our eye contact non-moving, we say