AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you two wanted to…” Calista gestures between her sister and me. “You can hang out longer if you want. I’ll probably go to bed and read a cookbook. My life is so exciting.”
“I’m good,” I tell her, saving Talia from having to refuse. “I might have a cigar on the balcony instead of reading a cookbook, though.”
“Sounds nice.” She sends Talia a careful glance, gauging her sister’s reaction.
Talia brightens with a smile, Benji-style. “Totally up for reading in bed tonight. Don’t we have some homemade ice cream to check on?” She loops her arm in Lis’s, throwing over her shoulder, “Thanks for the ride, Kingpin.”
“Anytime, Wildflower.” Then I head inside to find a cigar.
Talia
“You two are ridiculous,” Lis says around a mouthful of ice cream. “Why don’t you go over there and fuck him already? He clearly wants you to.”
I nearly choke on my bite of chocolate brownie ice cream.
“Calista!” I scold her rather than admit I’m miffed he didn’t invite me over. Not that I’d have gone over anyway. It’s my sister’s last night in town.
“I haven’t been out of the game too long to believe sitting here and eating ice cream with me is better than sex.” Her brooks-no-argument tone reminds me way too much of Mom.
“It’s really good ice cream.” I smile. She’s sitting on one side of the living room sofa, and I’m on the other. I poke her with one stockinged foot. “I want to spend as much time as possible with you before you leave tomorrow. I’m not going to go over to Archer’s for a booty call while you’re here.”
“I would,” she says to her bowl.
“Go on. He might take a substitute.”
“Yeah, right.” She doesn’t laugh. “He’s totally nuts about you, Tal. He’s not going to accept any substitute. I also haven’t been out of the game too long to recognize a man over the moon for you when I see one. Brandon never looked at you the way Archer did tonight.”
“Archer chose a cigar over me, Lis.”
“Well, you chose ice cream over him.” She shakes her head. “You’re being impossible, and I can’t figure out why. What are you afraid of?”
Him stealing away my attention when I should be paying attention to my dad’s health or my newfound career.
Luckily she doesn’t wait for me to answer.
“He told you he’d be smoking a cigar on the balcony so you’d know where to find him if you changed your mind.”
“I doubt that.”
“Whatever.” She finishes off her ice cream with a few more agitated scrapes of her spoon. “You are as stubborn as Papa.”
“Am not.” I frown, but it feels true.
“Are to. I’m going to bed,” she announces, pushing to stand from the sofa. “Beignets tomorrow, and then back to Florida for me. Night, babe. You have fun friends.”
She rinses her bowl in the kitchen sink. I follow suit, tucking our silverware and bowls into the dishwasher and turning it on before climbing the stairs to my own room. Once I’m there, I peek out the balcony window to check if he’s out there. He is. A fire glows in the stone fireplace, his handsome profile catching the light.
Tonight, when Nate walked over to kiss Vivian, I felt a longing so acute, I had to catch my breath. Then Archer came for me. I realized in an instant how much I liked him coming for me. How much comfort he offers. How can something so dangerous feel so damn right?
Grabbing a throw from the chair in the corner of the room, I wrap it around my shoulders and step outside. The March wind is fierce, kicking my hair around my head. I shiver. His head turns like he heard me, or maybe he was expecting me.
“Hey,” I call out. No sense in pretending. We both know he’s the reason I came outside.
“Hi, gorgeous,” he calls. “Can’t sleep?”
“That’s my line. You’re the insomniac.”
He stands and approaches the wall the same as me, and now we’re facing each other, arms leaning on two separate ledges, enough space between to be daunting. How apt.
