To Each Her Own (The Swirl Book 1) by Sylvia Sinclair Read Free Book Online Page B

great food, live music, and a fantastic game room.
    Ramón sipped on his regular Guinness.
    Shasta downed the last sip of her bottomless lemon mimosa.
    “You good?” he asked, pointing to her glass.
    She put her hand over the top of it. “I am thanks. Two is good for me.” She smiled. “Actually, two is all I should’ve had on Friday night.” She looked at him like he knew she was right.
    “Hey. One thing is for sure; I’ve got you. I can always get you home.”
    “Oh, we know that.”
    “Yes, we do,” he said grinning. He looked around the restaurant. “You know, I was gonna tell you; places like this are cool and all, but I was thinking that next time, I’d really like to cook for you. Maybe one day soon. You haven’t been to my place yet.”
    “No, I haven’t. That might be possible. So you can cook, huh?”
    “I can. I can make just about anything. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that. I’m not good at everything, but I’m at least willing to try.”
    “I see. It’s rare to find a man who cooks.”
    “I’ve heard that before. It’s really all my mom’s fault. She taught me how to make a lot of Puerto Rican recipes, but she also cooked soul food for my dad. She even made Italian food. They loved pasta. And I’m warning you, if you want a serious shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, I’m your man.”
    She nodded. “Heck yeah. I love any kind of pasta.”
    “Good. I’d love to make it for you.”
    “Maybe.” She knew she had to say, “Ramón, first I want to talk to you about something.”
    “Okay.”
    She went right into it. “It’s about the office policy that deals with employees getting together outside of work.”
    “Yes.”
    “I think it’s only right that we discuss it. And I, for one, need to be a good example to you and others. I’m an officer at Bain. I really don’t want anything to happen that affects your job just because we’re friends.”
    “Oh no, it couldn’t.”
    “Why do you say that as if you’re so sure?”
    “Because, actually, after today, it won’t matter anyway. I found out we won’t be in the same office anyway.”
    She took a second and then asked, “What do you mean?”
    “My boss told me that Mr. Bain has someone coming, probably some type of nepotism situation, I don’t know, but it’s someone who needs to be trained. So he needs me to go to the Alpharetta office, starting immediately.”
    “Alpharetta? Like tomorrow?” She acted surprised, but was not.
    “Yes.”
    “For how long?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Aren’t you curious about why it’s happening all of a sudden?”
    “No. The guy must’ve just started. Shasta, it’s no big deal, other than the fact that I won’t be able to see you around the office. Now that’s gonna make the days cloudy. That much I know for sure.”
    “That’s really sweet of you to say. But, I find it interesting. I mean, just because someone new is training, it seems . . . I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Nothing.”
    “Look. Don’t you worry about it. Plus, Alpharetta is even closer to my apartment than Downtown. I’m okay as long as we can maybe meet up after work like this. I think that’d be cool. Truth is, I’m just happy to have a job.”
    “I can understand that.” Her mind raced a mile a minute.
     He continued. “Some of my unemployed friends have been putting in eight hours a day, sending out resumes. They’re damn near begging for work. One of them told me he’s willing to sell his sperm, pee, saliva, hair sample, or whatever, just to pay the rent.”
    She grinned, listening to what he said, but not really.
    “Thank God I don’t have any kids, and no one’s depending on me. For now, I’ve got one mouth to feed. In a few years, it might be different. But ain’t nobody getting my sperm unless I’m in bed with them.”
    Now she heard every word of his four sentences. “So you do plan to have kids soon, right?”
    “Not anytime soon. But I want to get married, and then have a