AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ibegin working my way back to the apartment, stopping to check the news a bit. I haven’t had a lead on a juicy story in a while. Though many of my peers focus on smaller, consistent stories, I tend to search for the big fish. The breaking news, high value exposés that change the world. My editor says I’m reckless. He supports it, mind you, because of the benefit it brings to the paper. My success is his success.
Stopping by the newsstand, I pick up a few copies of the local papers and gossip magazines. They almost never pan out, but it’s good to keep an eye on the background news of the city. That’s how I noticed that the timeline and budget for some city hall renovations were way off schedule. A few months later and I was breaking news on a kickback scheme costing New Yorkers millions.
From there I head to a little coffee shop with a large outdoor patio. Getting a large americano and adding a healthy amount of cream, I settle into one of the patio chairs and begin going through my papers. The coffee is mediocre at best, the garbage cans stink, and the view is of a back alley. It does, however, happen to be owned by Sarah Rosenberg, the biggest busybody and gossip I’ve ever met. She somehow manages to get complete strangers telling her their life story. She then proceeds to repeat it to everyone. From my cozy spot, I can browse my papers and eavesdrop while half of New York spills their secrets to a sweet old lady and one sneaky journalist.
“Carla! As I live and breathe, how are ya doing? How’s Peter?” Her loud greeting startles me out of my reading.
Looking to be in her early fifties, with perfectly coiffed hair and a fresh manicure, Carla practically beams. “Peter is doing so good! Just got promoted to attending at St. Mary’s emergency room.”
With a sharp look at the girl putting pastries out in the case, she says, “Bethany! Did you hear that? Her son is a doctor. And he’s single!”
Bethany sighs. “Stop being such a yenta grandmother! I’m not dating anyone right now.”
“It’s probably for the best,” sighs Carla. “He’s working such late hours at the hospital and now he’s helping at the medical examiner’s office too! I swear he will never get married.”
Sarah’s face practically glows. “Oh, really! How exciting! But why are they having him help out?”
With a grimace that almost passes as distressed, but better shows her pure conspiratorial joy, Carla whispers, “Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but apparently there’s more bodies showing up than usual.”
“Oh, my, how odd,” says Sarah, shaking her head.
I’d say it’s fucking fascinating, but that’s just me. I polish off the rest of my coffee and drop my papers in the trash on my way out. I found my lead, just not in the papers. God bless old gossips.
Thirty minutes and one subway later, I’m back in my apartment. Perks of being temporarily roommate free, I’m stripping off my workout gear the second I’m in the door. Cranking the shower heat up as high as it goes, I set about scrubbing sweat from my skin and hair. I’m running conditioner into my locks when my mind starts to drift over the day.
It runs, metaphorically, into a blue-eyed brick wall. Who was that man? He seems vaguely familiar, and my inability to place him is driving me batty. I’m usually very good with faces, but I can’t seem to conjure up why I recognize the Irish testosterone factory. Maybe it’s the fact that he was shirtless, with miles of tattooed muscles on display. That’s bound to short circuit any girl’s brain. That, and the sharp jaw, high cheekbones, and short cut dark hair.
A slow throbbing starts between my legs. It’s been a long time since I’ve found myself running my fingers up and down my folds, circling my clit, and dipping into my pussy. With the hot water running down my body, my fingers picking up speed, and the sounds of a rough Irish accent floating through my head, I come. It hits with wave after wave, my body shaking and starting to slip down the wet wall.
Holy shit.
After I regain my composure, I finish my shower and dress. I pick out dark skinny jeans, a t-shirt under a black tunic-style turtleneck sweater, and black bootie heels. My clothing and shoe selection is actually pretty small, but what I keep is good quality. The shoes aren’t designer, but they are sturdy, beautiful, and pure leather. I made a vow to stop with bad shoes years ago; life is too short for blisters. After I moved to New York, I also discovered that I love high heels. There wasn’t much place for them on the ranch I grew up on, and my Ariat Lacer boots still come out during the winter, but so long as the weather and my feet hold, I’ll be in heels. I twist my damp hair up with an octopus clip at the back of my head and apply some light makeup. The liquid liner and mascara is just enough to make my hazel eyes pop.
My laptop goes into a well-worn purse. The bag is designer, but given how little I paid for it in a back alley of Chinatown a few blocks away, the authenticity of the item is questionable at best, not that I actually care.
Downstairs, I set up shop on the little patio of the restaurant. One of the many perks of being Mrs. Morelli’s upstairs tenant is that she lets me use her patio as my office during the less crowded hours. I help myself to a cup of Diet Coke from the fountain. Of my vices, Diet Coke is certainly the biggest. Tasha teases that if I need blood drawn, the nurse is going to get a syringe filled with soda.
I download the first few chapters of the cringe-worthy ‘The Virgin and the Minotaur Pirate’ and dig in.
After a few hours, I find myself incredibly grateful for the shower orgasm earlier. Any libido I still had would have been thoroughly murdered by this book. With perfect timing, Gino comes around the corner and helps himself to my table.
“Hi, Rocky, you look gorgeous today.” Something is off about his tone. It’s not the cordially polite one we normally use.
“Oh, um, thanks.”
“You should have dinner with me tonight. I made reservations at La Petite.” He seems very proud of himself. It feels like he’s ordering me to have dinner with him.
“Gino, thank you for the invitation,” I stress the word, making it clear that there wasn’t an invitation actually given, “but I’m not interested in dating right now.”
His cocky grin falls. Something dark flashes in his eyes, but then it’s gone, almost so fast I doubted it was there. He reaches for my hand but I withdraw it.
“Excuse me, I have some things to attend to.” I grab my laptop and purse and walk out to the busy sidewalk, rather than into the alley that leads to my apartment.
Thoroughly creeped out, I finish a few more chapters at a tea shop a few blocks away before sneaking back to my apartment. It’s time for a nap. I have a feeling I’ll be chasing down this dead bodies lead all night long.
CHAPTER4
Sean
