Home > Wish You Were Here(4)

Wish You Were Here(4)
Author: Renee Carlino

His eyes were wide when I met him on the stairs in front of the building. I held my phone out. “You want to punch your address into the GPS?”

Taking it from my hands he said, “Yeah, thanks so much.”

“Sure.” He handed me the Chinese food to hold as he read an address off his palm and plugged it into the maps app on my phone.

“So you’re brand-new to the area?” I asked.

“Uh huh, yeah . . . sorta. Okay, left, left, right three blocks, left, then right. Left, left, right three, then left, right.” He was studying the screen.

“You live right by Bar Kenner, in those brick lofts?”

He gave me a thumbs-up. “You got it.”

I raised an eyebrow. Those were very expensive lofts. “That’s pretty close,” I said.

“You go there? Bar Kenner?” he asked.

“Yeah, Helen and I go there after work sometimes.”

He smiled when he noticed I was staring at his mouth. “You want to go there and get a drink?”

Oh my god, he’s asking me out. Be cool. “Sure. When?”

“Right now?” He shrugged, revealing his dimples again. “Life’s short.”

I took my phone back and looked at the time. It was eleven thirty. “It’s kinda late.”

Coward! I shouted inwardly.

“Go ahead! Go!” came a voice from above. No, it wasn’t God; it was Helen, standing on the balcony—eavesdropping, of course.

“I’ll sweeten the deal and let you have some of my cold kung pao chicken.”

“That’s very enticing,” I said.

“I mean, I understand if you can’t,” he said, picking up on my hesitation. “It’s late. Rain check?”

“Go with him!” Helen shouted.

“Sure. Do you want my number?”

He looked around and shoved his hands into his pockets like he was searching for a pen but coming up short. That’s when I made the decision.

“Screw it. Let’s get a drink now. Wait here, I need to grab a sweater.”

“I’ll be here,” he said.

I ran back to the apartment, a huge smile on my face.

3. Soul Affinity

I took the stairs two at a time and burst through the door. Helen was waiting for me. “He’s precious, all doe-eyed and unassuming,” she said. I ran around searching for a sweater while she continued talking. “He must have a decent job; he’s wearing a Tag watch, and those lofts near Bar Kenner are super expensive.”

“The watch doesn’t exactly fit his style. Maybe it was a gift?”

“He was just running out for takeout.” She braced my shoulders, stopping me from spinning in circles. “Don’t be standoffish. This guy seems nice. Plus he’s hot. Did I mention that?”

“Why do you and my brother insist on bringing up how standoffish I am?”

“Because you have a pretty bad track record. It’s time to change that. Just go have a drink with him and be chill.”

“It’s late and he’s a stranger. We just met on the street. Am I not allowed to be a little nervous?”

“Text every five minutes if that makes you feel better. I’ll stay up. Besides, it’s only two blocks away and you’ll be in public. You’ve done way shadier stuff than this. Remember when you met that guy at the Museum of Death?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“Wasn’t he wearing a dog collar?”

I was still rummaging through my closet for the perfect sweater, trying to ignore Helen. “Yes, yes he was.”

“What was the thing about his name?”

I laughed. “He told me his name was Atticus Danger and then I saw his ID; it said Albert Davis. Part of the skull and bones tattoo on his forearm rubbed off when I spilled my margarita on him at dinner.”

“And you’re worried about this guy? Just take an Uber if he creeps you out that bad.”

I gave her pistol fingers, even though I had already made up my mind. “That’s a good plan. I’ll go.”

“I’m proud of you. You never do anything fun. Ooh, maybe you guys will bone!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m going to have a drink. Stop pimping me out.” I hurried to the door. “If you don’t get a text from me by two a.m., file a missing persons report.”

I heard her cackling gleefully as the door shut behind me.

Adam watched me closely as I made my way down the stairs toward him for the second time that night. “You look lovely.”

“I just put on a sweater.”

“Well, you look lovely in that sweater.”

“Thank you.”

He took my hand in his. “Come on.”

I pulled him the other way. “It’s this way.”

“Oh right, ha! Just testing you.”

I honestly didn’t know what I was thinking, leaving my house at almost midnight on a dark street, four blocks from Skid Row, with a stranger. I guess my intuition wasn’t sounding any alarms when it came to Adam.

We found two seats at the bar and ordered the same glass of wine, so Adam suggested we get a bottle. “Why not?” I said, fully throwing caution to the wind.

“So, Charlotte, tell me about yourself. What do you do?”

“Well, I work at Blackbird’s, that shitty restaurant on Fourth. But I’m saving up to go to cosmetology school.”

“Blackbird’s? The place with the Bloody Mary bar and those weird flags?”

“That’s the one!” I said, with equal parts triumph and embarrassment.

“Good tortilla soup, though, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Time to change the subject. “What about you, Adam?”

“I used to be a lawyer, actually.”

“A lawyer?” I didn’t expect that.

“Yeah, corporate litigation. The really depraved kind.” He smirked.

“What, did you find God or something?”

“Yeah, something like that.” He reached out and touched my bottom lip with his thumb. I had been chewing the inside of my mouth, a lovely habit I acquired as a toddler. “You’re gonna chew your mouth off.”

“I always do this.”

“It’s cute.”

“It’s kind of gross.”

“You’re right, it’s disgusting,” he said, but I could tell he was kidding.

“Hey!” I protested, and we both laughed. “So you were working as a corrupt lawyer and then you found God and quit? How do you afford that fancy Chinese take-out?”

He stared at me intensely for a moment. “Do you want to come over?” Whoa. That was abrupt.

“Um, what? To your house?”

“Yeah! Do you want to have a sleepover?” He waggled his eyebrows. Oh my god, this guy is forward.

“Honestly, that kind of freaks me out, Adam.” Truth be told, I totally wanted to have a sleepover at his house, but it was a little soon. Even by Helen’s standards.

“Okay, we’ll just have the wine then.” He took a sip as if he were totally unfazed by my rejection. “To answer your question, I’m taking a break from work. And I paint.”

“Houses?”

He laughed. “No, artwork.”

“Oh, that kind of painter.”

“Are you an art fan, Charlotte?”

“Who isn’t?”

“A lot of people, unfortunately.” He laughed. “Tell me more about your life, your family. How do you like to spend your time?”

He watched me like he was trying to commit everything I said to memory. There were things I noticed about him as he sat there, engrossed in my ramblings. First of all, he was insanely handsome. His skin and hair were just dark enough to make the brown of his eyes seem impossibly light, and he was tall and slim while looking strong and capable all at once.

It’s incredibly sexy when a man is as comfortable in his skin as Adam was. His motions were smooth, from the way he lifted his wineglass to his mouth to the way he gestured with his hands. There was an ease about him. And he was spontaneous and fun. It excited me.

   
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