Page 3 of A Damaged Soul
I simply nodded my head at this bit of information. I was fully invested now and wanted to find out as much as I could. "Are you all close?"
Big mistake! I seemed to be doing a lot of that in this conversation.
I watched as Rhett shut down right in front of me at that question. But he still managed to answer in a hollow tone. "We used to be."
Work was off-limits, and it appeared so was family. That just let boring things like, "What's your favorite color?"
"Green," he replied immediately. Which kind of surprised me. I expected him to say black since that was what he was dressed in or maybe blue like his eyes. But he further surprised me when he asked in return, "How about you?"
"Green, obviously." I pointed down to my emerald-green dress. "But not bright green more like a pastel green." I mostly liked to wear the color because it made the emerald in my eyes pop. "What's your favorite food?"
Rhett appeared to relax at the line of questioning, so I kept it going.
"I'm a boring ol' steak-and-potatoes kind of guy."
"I doubt there's anything boring about you." The words jumped out of my mouth before I could think better of it. As did the flirty tone they were delivered in.
Rhett either didn't pick up on it or he wasn't interested because he didn't reciprocate when he asked back, "Why, what's yours?"
"Oh I don't have a favorite. Well, not just one anyway. I'm more of a mood eater. Like right now, I'm craving pizza and maybe some breadsticks. But a burger sounds good too or maybeonion rings. Oooooh fried pickles. Those would be heavenly." I was practically salivating at the mouth just thinking about anything fried.
"Come on." Rhett threw some money down on the bar and stood. "I've got just the place." He grabbed my hand and nearly dragged me through the almost empty bar.
"Wait." I tried to slow him down, but he was a man on a mission. "Where are we going?"
"I told you. I've got just the place. Don't worry, it's just around the corner, but you're going to love it. It has everything you're craving."
Well, wasn't that convenient. I should be worried that this stranger who essentially confessed that he was a murderer was dragging me to an undisclosed location, yet somehow I never felt more safe in my life.
CHAPTER THREE
Rhett
I dragged Elle into a dive bar around the corner that had the best fried food in all of Boston. This was my favorite place to hit up when I needed some comfort food.
"Wow!" Elle said as soon as we walked through the door. I understood her reaction immediately.
"Don't worry. The food is great, I promise."
I don't know why I had the urge to show her my favorite place, but as soon as Elle mentioned what she was hungry for, there was nowhere else I wanted to go. Even if the hotel bar we were at served the same exact food she mentioned, it was this place that I thought of.
"I'm going to hold you to that."
I smiled as I placed my hand on her lower back and guided her over to the bar. The gentleman behind the bar was the owner, and he smiled as soon as we sat down.
"Hey, Rhett. You brought a guest this time, I see. What can I get you both?"
I motioned for Elle to go ahead first and was surprised when she asked for a lager. I expected her to be a wine or martini girl with the way she was dressed up. "I'll have the same," I told Sam.
"Coming right up." He rapped the bar with his knuckles before walking over to the tap to pour our drinks.
"First thoughts?" I spun on my barstool and looked at Elle's profile. Her strawberry-colored locks twisted halfway down her back and complemented her porcelain skin. Everything about her screamed high class and was the complete opposite of who I was.
Elle turned and met my gaze head-on. She shifted until her legs were between mine. "The bartender seems nice and seems to know you well. Plus the place isn't dirty. Outdated for sure but it's clean compared to some bars I've been to."
Jealousy immediately tried to work its way into my system at the fact that she was at bars—probably with other men. I pushed the feeling down though. I had no right to be jealous of who she had hung out with before she met me
"Sam," I told her.
