The Dark Proposal (The Claire McCormick Trilogy) by Megan Cashman Read Free Book Online Page B

evenings or during the weekends. They went to lounges or pubs for a few drinks, went to comedy clubs, checked out some plays, both major and small. They did the things couples who shared the same interests would do.
    In late-September, Daniel met Monica and Samantha. It was a Wednesday after one of his classes and Samantha was bartending at the sports bar. He was polite and friendly to her two friends as the four of them hung out until the bar closed half past one. He headed home, after giving Claire a delightful but short kiss in front of the other girls.
    “I think he’s a good match for you,” Monica said. “He makes you smile, too.”
    “Yeah. He really seems to like you back, in a genuine way,” Samantha added.
    Later that same week, it was her turn to meet with his friends. They went to the East Village to a rock club where three of his friends from Brooklyn put on a show. While waiting for the band to begin, she met Daniel’s neighbors from TriBeCa, Michael and Sarah. Like Daniel, Michael was a professor, only he taught math at the same public Manhattan college Daniel previously taught at. Sarah worked as a bartender at a classy lounge near the Empire State Building. They weren’t married and had no intention of doing so. For a moment, Claire wondered if Daniel was the same way. But then she shrugged that thought off because she was definitely too young to be thinking about that.
    As for the rock band, it was called The Black Roses, which represented its goth tones, and they as a group of friends were referred to as such. The Black Roses consisted of its singer and bassist Yvette, a tall biracial woman with a bright smile; guitarist Anthony who had playful brown eyes and a boyish face; and Jessica, its drummer who’s long dark hair and wide green eyes gave off a sensuous appearance. They performed well, even though goth rock was not Claire’s style.
    After the show, the seven of them hung out together. At first, Claire was a bit shy hanging around such people because she had little connections to them. They weren’t fellow high school or college students, like the friends of her previous boyfriends. These were complete strangers. In addition, she was younger than them, and felt like a kid. She did her best to act more mature around them.
    As she sat and observed them, she saw they were all close and seemed like family to each other, which she liked. Watching Daniel with his friends was pleasing because he was so relaxed around them. He also laughed a lot which she enjoyed hearing. This was the most she had ever seen him at ease.
    However, he didn’t completely forget her nor did anyone else. Chestnut-brown haired Michael went the most out of his way to get her more involved in the conversations, and Anthony would try to tease her so she would relax a bit. These were a good, friendly bunch who accepted Claire into their fold, and not just because she was seeing Daniel. By the end of the night, she felt as though she had made a new group of friends.
    However, there was something off about Sarah. From the moment they were first introduced, she would suspiciously eye Claire with her large blue eyes as if she was inspecting her. If she ever asked her any questions, Claire felt like she was being interrogated. A couple of times, Daniel and Michael had to nudge Sarah or through her a look that told her to stop. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Claire felt as if Sarah didn’t exactly want her around, but at the same time, she was welcoming to her. It was like she was more than just a new friend, but Claire wasn’t sure what.
    There was also something odd about his friends. For one thing, they all had the same pale complexion she first noticed on Daniel. Also, they all had accents that Claire could not place. They certainly were not New York accents; some of them spoke as if they had lived in Europe as children. When she asked them about that, they seemed to look at her as though she had two