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I pretended to be oblivious. “So, how’d you find me?”
“Asked around. It was easy.”
“Oh. I didn’t think I stood out.”
“It’s the accent,” he said, passing a glass of water to me. “Not a lot of people here talk the way you do.”
“Back home, you’re the ones with the accent.”
A flicker of a smile lit up his face. “Does your son have it, too?”
“My nephew? Yeah, kind of.”
His nostrils flared. “Your nephew?”
Sweet Jesus, Violet! How could you say something so stupid? I clenched my fists under the table. “Y-yes. He’s my sister’s boy. She passed away, and I’m takin’ care of him now.”
“The same sister from the song?”
I nodded, my throat tightening. “Do you have any siblings?”
“I’m number four out of six children.”
“Bless your mama. What was it like, growin’ up with that many kids?”
“House was crowded. We slept three in a bed. My sisters tried to help my mom, but they could only do so much. So we all started working young to support the family. My oldest brother, Rome, never finished elementary school. Dad pulled him out. Rome still complains about it.”
“Sounds like a tough upbringin’.”
Achille shrugged. “Everyone has a story. Some are messier than others.”
The waitress dropped off our drinks, and Achille slipped his credit card into her hand. I fumbled for my purse to grab my wallet, but he shot me a dark look, his big hand closing around my fingers.
The waitress zipped off.
The air between us charged with an electric current, a mix of attraction and wariness. For some sick, twisted reason, I was drawn to him.
“Listen, I don’t know what you’re expectin’, but I’ve got a three-year-old at home.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“Mmm. Not sure I believe that, with the stalkin’ and the insistence on payin’ for everything.”
His attention wandered up and down my face. “You don’t look like you mind it.”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you’re a guy who thinks buyin’ a girl a drink means she owes him.”
His mouth tugged into a feline smirk, but it disappeared like smoke from a candle wick. “I don’t expect what I haven’t earned.”
“And how do you earn things?”
“Usually, by scaring the shit out of people.”
I paused, my glass halfway to my lips. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
