The Favor by Elle Luckett Read Free Book Online Page B

society is convinced that they're open to new and crazy things, there’s still a stigma about aging citizens getting jiggy with it. More often than not, they see a young woman with an older man and assume that she's with him for the money. It's just the way it is. But it's not always the case. Sometimes the heart wants what it wants and we love someone regardless of age, race, color, social status or sex. We just love. Maybe you should talk to people first.”
    “I applaud your ability to get the word jiggy into a sentence, but the connotations are rather disturbing,” he said, nodding in acknowledgment, the small twitch at the corner of his lips telling me his humor was genuine. “But you talk as though you don't consider yourself as part of modern society.”
    “I don't. I've never been much of a conformist, and I don't like these boxes people use to stereotype one another. I'm a simple girl who lives in her own bubble. I don't even watch the news because it depresses me. I love who I want to love, live where and how I want to live, and though I adhere to laws and common sense rules, the rest I make up as I go along.”
    “I've never met anyone like you.”
    “Good. That means I'm original.” I grinned back, patting the bed next to me. He finally took the invitation and kicked the door closed before he sat on the bed beside me, falling to his back on the mattress. It was the most relaxed I'd seen him since I met him.
    “I wish I could be like that.”
    “Like what?” I asked, mimicking his pose and bouncing to the side, propping my head up on my hand.
    “A non-conformist, living my life the way I want to.”
    “Then why don't you?”
    He turned his head and grinned at me ruefully, both of us answering my question at the same time. “The money.”
    “Why is it so important to you?”
    “I don't really think it is, but my father's always drilled into me the value of money. What things cost, how much we wasted, how bad life could be without it. I guess those lectures stuck more than I ever intended them to.”
    “I get that, and sure, it would be nice not to have to worry about money, but it's not that bad. I mean, you probably have enough to last you fifteen lifetimes, right? What's the big deal?”
    “More. It's always about more.”
    I wrinkled my nose and tried to see myself in his shoes – being able to do anything, buy anything, go anywhere and never having to check my bank account to see if I had the money available. It was a nice thought, but what happened when I died? All that material stuff stayed behind, and I’d have been so paranoid that I'd never let anyone close.
    I blinked out of my rumination and found Jared staring at me, his lips curled into an attractive smile.
    “What?”
    “You just spent a couple of million in your head, didn't you? I saw the wistfulness in your smile.”
    “Not gonna lie, I had a shopping spree in some of my favorite stores and my little car was upgraded,” I said with a laugh. “But I don’t like the thought of being paranoid all the time, questioning every relationship and friendship I have. What happens when you die? You can't take money with you. You've never made a genuine connection with anyone. Will it be worth it? For me, it just sounds lonely.”
    Jared blew all the air out of his lungs, his hands rising to his face to rub it in frustration. The crickets and the gentle hum of the AC that had been drowned out by our conversation were now growing deafening again.
    “I need to introduce you to my father.”
    “He'd probably have me thrown out of England.”
    “You have no idea.” He laughed.
    Jared and I, having found a basic foundation for conversation, talked for hours about anything and everything that came to mind after we finally bridged the gap. The lack of connection was completely obliterated as we began to find more and more that we had in common. He was funny, a genuine character with some tall tales of the things he’d seen and done when he