Page 33 of Entice

“What we don’t eat now we can have as a midnight snack.”

“And what makes you think I’ll still be here?”

“I’m being hopeful.”

“Where did you grow up?” he asked as he dished up his food. Her fork froze on the way to her mouth.

“Kansas.” She took a bite and set her fork down.

“A long way from Washington.” Her smooth forehead creased into a frown. Had he hit a sore spot?

“Yes.” Crystal glanced out the window and then back at him. “I left home at eighteen and headed west. I ended up in Seattle. My first job was as a waitress. I’m so not cut out for that type of work, but my boss took pity on me. He gave me a hostess job because I was friendly. It worked out.”

Interesting. While a lot of kids left home at eighteen, she’d traveled thousands of miles with no plans. He was curious about what made her leave her family. “Why did you become a paralegal?”

“People from a nearby law firm came in for lunch every Friday. I’d hear bits and pieces as they waited for their table. It sounded fascinating. One day I talked to one of the paralegals, and she helped me figure out which college to attend and what classes to take.”

“You never thought about college before then?” She was bright and sharp; why wouldn’t she have considered college?

“No.” She let out a sigh. “My parents didn’t believe in anything beyond high school. I wasn’t allowed to take my SATs or any placement tests for college. They expected me to get married and have children.”

Jordan pushed his empty plate away and took a sip of his beer. His childhood had been good until right before his eighteenth birthday. The day his father killed his mother. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

Crystal gave a bitter laugh. “Four brothers and three sisters. We’re all a little over a year apart. I have two older brothers and one older sister, then two younger brothers and two younger sisters.”

“Middle child.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Are your brothers and sisters still in Kansas?”

“As far as I know. I don’t have a lot of contact with them.”

Interesting that she didn’t have a lot of contact. He glanced at her plate; she’d barely eaten. “I’m an only child.”

“I’m not sure it was any better than having lots of siblings.” She picked up her fork and began eating again.

“I wasn’t lonely. I had lots of friends, and my mom was the best.” He allowed himself to remember his mother’s bright smile and how it would fade when his father’s temper got out of control and he would yell. But his father never hit his mother until the day his father killed her. “She was a stay-at-home mom. Sometimes I can still smell her oatmeal raisin cookies she baked when I was little.”

“Was this your parents’ house?”

“No. My childhood home was demolished years ago.” He’d seen to it when he finally had the money. He bought it from the foreclosure company and then leveled it, hoping to bury the ghosts of his past.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” He took a long drink of his beer as she stared at him. “My father killed my mother in that house.” His gut clenched. He rarely talked about his family, but if he was going to have a relationship with Crystal, he wanted to be open and honest.

“What? Oh my God, Jordan.” She stood up, crossed over to him, and stood behind his chair. She leaned down and hugged him from behind. “I’m so sorry.”

The strangle-hold on his heart eased. “Thank you.” He didn’t know what else to say. He reached up and put his hands on her arms, enjoying the warmth of her touch. It had been a while since he’d allowed anyone this close to him, not counting his friends. He took a deep breath and quickly changed the subject. “If you’re finished eating, let’s put the extra food away and go into the family room.”

“Sure.” She released him, and he missed her warmth, but he hoped to have her in his arms soon enough.

They made short work of cleaning up and were in the family room in no time.

“I think we both had some tragedies in our childhoods,” she said standing next to the sofa.

“Yes.” Before she could sit down, he snagged her around the waist, and when he sat, he pulled her into his lap. He wanted to get off their childhoods and onto something more pleasant.

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