Page 14 of Wait For Me

I shook my head in answer and watched as his grin grew wider making dimples pop in both sides of his cheeks. “You?”

“Just here on extended business.” He glanced around again. “Are you here on vacation with your family then?”

“Nope. I’m here on my own indulgent road trip. I stopped for a while to catch my breath and make some extra cash so I can keep exploring the country.”

“A traveler’s soul, huh?”

I shrugged and tipped my head to the side taking him in as he put out the cigarette he’d been smoking. I supposed that was why he had been standing on the porch of the house as I was walking by. Why did all the men who I found attractive have to be smokers?

“What has your nose wrinkling like that?”

“Just wondering why it is that the sexiest men in the world tend to be smokers,” I replied honestly. “It’s a huge turnoff for women. There’s this gorgeous package,” I waved my hand his way, indicating that he was indeed one of the men referred to. “And while you are fun to look at, the thought of kissing you is muddled now.”

“Shit!” He huffed the word out amidst a heavy bout of laughter. “You just tell it like it is, no holds barred, huh?”

“Life’s too short to tell people lies. Besides, I’m sure you already know the truth.”

“Yeah, I do, but most women would just go with it and forgive that one little thing.”

“Not so little when we get the second-hand taste. I understand they probably taste great to the user, considering you’ve grown accustomed, but to a non-smoker it’s gross.”

“How about you promise to stick around for a while, and I’ll go rinse my nasty mouth out so that we can finish our conversation without me feeling judged.”

A peek back at the party house kind of sealed the deal for me. “Sure,” I agreed. “But I’m staying outside since you’re a stranger and all.”

“The suit doesn’t give me any credibility?”

“The opposite. Never trust a man in a suit, he probably tells lies for a living.” It was something my father had said often when I was growing up, of course, most of the time he’d been talking about lawyers. “You aren’t a lawyer, are you?”

The beautiful man laughed again. “No, I’m in finance.”

“Gah! Almost as bad,” I teased much to his amusement.

“I’ll be right back. You want a drink?”

“Do you have bottled water?”

“Sure.”

“If you can bring one back that doesn’t have a broken seal, I’ll take one of those.”

The smile on his face was genuine. “Smart girl,” he said before turning and heading into the house while I took a seat on one of the colorful rocking chairs that decorated the porch.

The one I sat in was a teal color, but there were others, each with their own hue ripped right from a rainbow. Red, Green, Navy Blue, and Yellow sat at intervals from the end of the porch to where I was, closest to the steps. A few minutes passed and I was just about to get up and go back to the party to find Shayla when the door opened, and the strange man appeared with two bottles, one beer, the other water, in his hands.

“The water wasn’t cold,” he apologized.

“That’s fine. I don’t mind it being room temperature.”

“Okay, I was going to offer some ice in a glass.” He took the seat next to me and eyed me as I inspected the bottle before cracking the seal and removing the lid. “I hope that someone taught you to be that cautious and not that you came by the habit from experience.”

“I have an overbearing father, older brother, and a vast array of uncles who drilled these precautions into me from a young age.”

“I can understand them wanting you to be safe.”

“Yes, because none of them wanted to go to prison for life for killing a man who tried to hurt me, even though all of them would have done so gladly.”

He chuckled at that. “Your honesty is refreshing.”

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