AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Yes," I admitted. "Too restless to just sit still and watch television." I'd said all this earlier, but at the same time I needed to explain. "I want to be useful. You had errands to run outside the house, so I took care of the inside. Oh! While I'm thinking about it." I paused to shift in my chair so I could face her.
The phone rang again, but she repeated her earlier gesture of just declining the call without looking at it. Instead of letting the ringing interrupt us, she kept her attention on me. Pride swelled in my chest. I liked her focus staying with me rather than Fletcher-whoever that irritated her.
"You have the most amazing array of cleaning supplies. I stuck to mostly down here, but I've wiped down every single surface. I noticed you have a habit of doing that, so I thought it would be the best way to make myself useful."
Surprise flickered across her expression as she took a bite of her food. I let her chew in peace because there was nothing like trying to answer someone after you'd just shoved food in your mouth. Besides, I hadn't actually asked her anything. When she took a sip of water, I nodded.
"I moved from the front of the house to the back. I even wiped down all the door handles and the entirety of the fridge."
"You didn't have to do that," she said, but there was a measure of respect and something that sounded kind of impressed in her voice and I grinned. I'd impressed her. Since she dazzled me, I loved that I could impress her.
"I wanted to," I assured her. "I meant what I said. I want to be useful to you. I still want to train with you and have you teach me."
"Self-defense?" Was she teasing me? "You seemed to handle yourself quite well in the alleyway."
A flush heated my face. "I was worried about you." Admitting that sounded far better than, I saw fucking red when that guy slammed her against the wall.
"So you made clear," she murmured and this time she reached over to touch my knee. "Merrick, it wasn't a criticism."
Relief swam through me, to be chased by a wholly inappropriate reaction to her touching me. The phone began to ring again and I glared at the offending item. Seriously...
"Do you need me to talk to him?"
Her laughter rang out, warm and sultry. "No, I can handle him." She picked up the phone on the fifth ring then answered it. "I'm waiting," was how she answered it. The murmur of a voice responding to her was definitely masculine.
Irritation raked through me at the interruption. Not of our conversation, though I wasn't fond of that, but because she had to take her hand off my knee to answer the phone. I kept my opinion to myself and stuffed a bite of food into my mouth, while not envisioning choking "Fletcher" out.
"I see," she said, lips pursed. Her tone contradicted her words, but when I caught her gaze, she winked. The sunshine of amusement burst through me again. "Well, that's most unfortunate Fletcher. I told you my terms. I don't negotiate. Have a good evening."
She ended the call and almost immediately the phone began ringing again. Without a second's thought she powered off the phone and set it on the table between us.
"Anything I can do to help?"
“No, believe me, he’s not any trouble at all,” she said while waving her fork in the air.
We ate in silence for a few minutes, then a sudden feeling of wasting the time I had with her rushed over me. I wanted to know more about Vienna. I just wanted to knowher. And yes, she had definitely not given me any information with any real substance, but I still burned to find out everything I could about her.
“How did you get into what you’re currently doing?” I leaned forward, enjoying the way the afternoon light highlighted the riot of dirty blonde curls. The light added depth and texture to her already gorgeous hair.
I longed to glide my hands through it, but I stayed put. Vienna didn’t seem ready for that type of affection yet.
“You could say I was born for the task. It doesn't seem like I’ve ever done anything else.” She placed another bite of food in her mouth and moaned as she enjoyed a quickly cooling wonton. Or maybe not so quickly since she’d had to walk out to take a phone call upstairs.
The visual, coupled with her audible enjoyment, was the most erotic thing I’d seen in some time, and almost entirely redirected my train of thought. Still, I had to adjust in my seat, otherwise she’d notice my straining erection pressing against the zipper of my pants.
“What did you want to be when you grew up?” I asked, trying for a different angle.
She didn’t answer right away, dropping her gaze to her knees. A soft smile graced her lips, and when she did look up, the corners of her mouth trembled. “I wanted to be just like my dad.” A low laugh escaped her throat, as if she were surprised to laugh at all.
“I’m glad you had a good dad.” I’d been blessed with great parents, who always sought to get counseling for me when they felt I could use an extra listening ear, and I was glad she’d had someone she loved so much in her life too.
Her plate made a slight tink against the end table as she set her plate down, then she curled her knees up to her chest. After passing her hand over her face, any visage of wistfulness was gone. “What about you, Merrick? What did you want to be when you grew up?”
The words on her tongue sounded slightly off. As if she wasn’t quite sure why she was indulging the conversation. But she was genuinely curious about me. And I basked in the knowledge that she wanted to know me too.
Trying not to preen too hard, I cleared my throat and gave the question serious consideration. “I didn’t really want to do any certain profession. I was an emotional child and really just wanted to be close to the people I loved. If anything, when I was seven, I wanted to save injured squirrels in my neighborhood. They were cute, fluffy little creatures that this kid down the block would shoot with a BB gun. Some would die, but some would be injured. So I helped them.” I’d nursed them to health in my backyard, and while some stayed close by, others would disappear. Man, had I cried when they never came back. Maybe that was the start of my attachment issues? Funny, we never talked about that particular time of my life in therapy.
Vienna’s chin dropped as I shared something I hadn’t thought about in years.
