AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I took a sip of my coffee, which suddenly tasted bitter in my mouth. I had to admit, I’d been guilty of using women as quick fixes before. Yet now, I doubted I’d ever be able to comfortably do so again—not after Natalie. It was no fun being on the other side of such treatment.
Natalie and her friend stood from their table and hugged each other.
“Thank you so much for coming to lunch with me,” Natalie said.
“Any time. And please, keep me posted on what’s going on with you, all right?”
“I will.”
Natalie watched her friend walk out of the diner, and looked towards me. “I’ll be right back,” she said. I nodded as she retreated to the ladies’ room.
I finished my coffee and sat back in my chair with a sigh, thinking about how being assigned to the Finley’s had become hardest job I’d ever worked. Not even my time in the army com
pared.
When Natalie returned, I left a few dollars on the table for a tip. “You ready?” I asked, standing and looking towards the door rather than at her. It was becoming increasingly more difficult each day to look her in the eyes and not feel simultaneously torn between wanting to kiss her and wanting to leave her to focus only on my career.
“Yeah. You mind taking me to the library?” she asked, looking slightly agitated. She missed the days when she could study in the library of her own home.
I nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”
* * *
Regularly sitting in the library watching Natalie study for her BAR exam wasn’t exactly the most exciting thing in the world, to say the least. So in an attempt to entertain myself, I found a book to read. Yet, after settling into a chair on the opposite side of the room from her, I fell asleep before even getting through the first chapter.
Ever since moving into the safe-house with Natalie, sleep hadn’t been easy to come by. I stayed on alert, checking the premises to make sure everything was in proper order.
“Natalie Finley?”
Someone called her name. I jerked awake, my eyes immediately zooming in on a young man walking toward her, a smile on his face.
I leaned forward, ready to spring into action at any second if necessary.
Natalie looked up from her book, her eyes widening. “Joey?”
I felt somewhat relieved that the man was someone she knew, although that relief was short-lived and quickly replaced with all-consuming jealousy. There was something intimate about how they looked at one another, and once he was close enough to her, my suspicions were confirmed. He wrapped her into a hug, his arms curling low on her waist and looking as if he didn’t want to let her go. He kissed her cheek. “It’s been forever,” he said.
“It has,” she agreed, giving him a smile that made my stomach tie up in fucking knots.
“What’s been going on with you?”
My jealousy further reared its head when the man took a seat at her table. I couldn’t take my eyes away from him, sizing him up. He looked around Natalie’s age, and I supposed he was handsome—with his shoulder-length hair and neatly trimmed goatee. He had a slim build, and I shamefully imagined how easy it would be to knock him the hell out.
“Oh, kind of a lot actually,” Natalie answered with a sigh and then proceeded to tell him all about the things going on with her father. The guy—Joey—listened, riveted and completely enamored with her. I felt my annoyance illogically rising, especially as he reached out and to rub her shoulder, consoling her. He then began to hold her hand, and I envisioned slicing that fucker’s hand clean off his arm.
Get a grip, Colt, I thought to myself. But it was no use. The jealousy I felt couldn’t be contained, and I knew my stare must have been burning a hole in the side of Joey’s face. After a while, he finally noticed me. His eyebrows shot upward, startled. He then leaned in and whispered into Natalie’s ear.
She turned her gaze toward me, and I heard her mutter the word ‘security.’
Joey’s expression relaxed and he gave me a wave that I couldn’t bring myself to return.
Realizing that I probably looked like a complete asshole staring so intently at the two of them, I tried to force myself to read the book tossed haphazardly in my lap. But once again, it was no use. I kept straining my ears, trying to hear their conversation. I kept glancing their way, wondering if he was touching her, and feeling that horrible pang of jealousy every time I heard her giggle at something he said.
I couldn’t have been more relieved when he finally got up to leave. They exchanged phone numbers before giving each other a far too long hug goodbye.
Once he was gone, Natalie sat back down and glanced my way.
Forgetting that I needed to keep my professional distance, I found myself storming up to her table. “Who was that?” I asked, the annoyance clearly detectible in my voice.
