AllFreeNovel
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“Telling.” He paused. “I scoped out the roof while I waited. There are some cute chairs and a table up there. I’ll sit with you while you eat. It’s a gorgeous night.”
Frowning, she stared at the bags in her hand and wondered at how much food she’d ordered. “I don’t...I have too much.”
“Too much what, sweetheart?”
“I-I ordered so much food.” She stared at the takeout and didn’t understand why she’d ordered so much for one meal. It was clearly enough for two people. “It’s too much.”
“Nina?” She looked up and met his eyes. “I swear to respect your boundaries. You have my word.” Removing her keys, she passed him and managed to unlock the outer door. She started to switch everything to her opposite hand and James said, “Allow me.”
Handing him the bags, she went up two flights of stairs to her apartment door and stared at it for a long moment without unlocking it.
“I don’t like people to see me,” she said without looking at him. “I-I don’t want people to know who I am.”
“Let’s go to the roof…”
Shaking her head sharply, she hissed, “I’m not afraid.”
She unlocked the door and placed her things on the narrow table in what passed as her foyer. Keeping her eyes down, she took the food and carried it to her tiny kitchen.
Striving for a flippant tone, she announced, “It’s small. There’s not much to see.”
She made two plates of food and watched him from the corner of her eye. He walked two hundred square feet as if it was two thousand and paused several times to read the spines of her books or look at the few photos she displayed. He glanced in the bathroom before joining her at the kitchen bar.
“You love this apartment,” he remarked as he shrugged off his jacket and removed his shoulder holster. Placing them on one of her barstools, he waited for her to reply.
“I-I like the bodega downstairs.”
“I popped in for a moment. The woman who owns the place reminds me of Miss Jeffries.” Her hands stilled in their movements. “The closest thing to a mother you ever had. It’s understandable to want to be near something familiar. You didn’t know anyone when you came here.”
“No. I didn’t know anyone and I’d burned the bridges to the people behind me.” Holding out a plate of food and silverware, she said, “I always eat here. I don’t have a dining table.”
James took it with a smile. “Standing while you eat is excellent for digestion. Did you know that?” She shook her head. “You’re a trailblazer, Nina.”
She snickered softly and focused on eating. It was the first food she’d really eaten since the day before. Her body needed it.
James ate quickly, efficiently. “Were you coming home from the theater?”
Tightening her fingers on her fork, she shook her head. “Therapy. I-Isaiah suggested Kelley a couple of years ago. She’s a huge theater buff. Knows all the songs...” She frowned at her food. “I don’t know why I told you that.”
“You like her as a person. You want to share her with someone else. It’s human nature. We want others to like what we like and know things we know.”
Chewing and swallowing past the lump in her throat, she said softly, “I told her about you today.”
“First time you’ve seen her since you’ve been back?”
“Uh uh, I just...I wasn’t ready to talk the first three times.”
Without a word, he wiped his mouth on a paper napkin and carried his empty plate to her kitchen sink. He rolled up his sleeves. She didn’t look at him as he washed everything and put it in the drying rack.
“I forgot to offer you something to drink…”
James opened her fridge and selected one of the many bottles of wine. Other than some fruit and a few specialty cheeses, the narrow space was filled with booze.
There was only one drawer in the kitchen and he found the wine opener easily. He took down the only two wine glasses she owned and poured them each a glass.
“What made today different?” he asked as he sipped his wine. “Why did you choose to talk?”
Nina rubbed her temple. “You messed me up.”
