Read Crash for Free Online Page A

of you looked bored. Besides, that money was fake.”
    I choked into my glass of beer. “Are you crazy? He could get in a lot of trouble if he deposits it.”
    “Serves him right for accepting a bribe.” He waved over the waitress. “I’ll have tea.”
    What an ass. I should be a lot angrier. “Are you stalking me?” I hissed when she left with his order.
    “Nope. Just overheard things at the workplace, you know how it is.” He sighed as if he had a long day and looked at me with the hungry expression that first drew me to him. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
    I flushed with pleasure and suddenly, the restaurant was too warm. I was stunned and flattered that he tracked me down all the way to Berkeley to—what? Why was he here? My anger stumbled. “Thank you, that’s very sweet. You look great yourself.” I wanted to make a barb about his appearance the other day, but I stopped myself.
    One dark eye winked at me. “What is this place?”
    “It’s an Ethiopian restaurant.”
    Will gawked as the waitress placed a huge platter in front of us, which was covered with a flattened, round piece of bread. The entrees were dropped directly on the bread in steaming piles. There were no utensils and I could see William quietly freaking out about it.
    “What the hell—how are we supposed to eat this?”
    “You eat it with your hands.” I pointed to the bowl of rolled spongy bread. I took one and tore off a piece. Using the bread, I picked up the food and ate it. The lamb fell apart in my mouth, the rich spices making my tongue dance. It was delicious.
    He raised an eyebrow. “Strange choice for a first date.”
    “If you don’t like it, I can always call Charlie back. At least he was excited to try it.” It was strange how comfortable I felt around him. Being around Luke usually had me tongue-tied, but William was completely different. He was strange, but not exactly intimidating.
    “Not a chance,” he frowned.
    “Are you afraid to get your hands dirty?” Rich boy?
    His nostrils flared as if he smelled a challenge and promptly rolled up his sleeves. Will gave me an “I’ll show you!” expression as he grabbed a roll of bread and picked up food with a piece. He brightened the moment the food passed his lips.
    “Wow, this is really good.” Apparently, his revulsion with eating with his hands was overcome by how delicious it was. He dove back in with gusto.
    All right, enough of the niceties. “Why are you here?”
    He paused to lean in a little bit with that secret smile that I loathed, the one that could see through all my bullshit. Just looking at him made my skin burn. “I wanted to see you again. I usually get what I want.”
    “I’ll bet that you do, but I’m still not interested.” A flush crept up my neck but I didn’t look away from his narrowed eyes. His cocky attitude was wearing thin.
    Will’s tossed his head angrily and looked at me like he could hardly believe that someone so stubborn existed. “Well, I’m not interested in you, either. You’re a bit too uptight for my taste.”
    Ouch. “I’m in no mood to be bullied.”
    He saw the frown on my face and shrugged. “Hey, I’m just being honest. You turned me down in front of those people.” A sad little smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
    I sighed and dropped my gaze, feeling guilty despite myself. “I just broke up with my fiancé of six years. I’m not over—”
    “I don’t give a crap about your ex,” he interrupted. “I don’t need to hear about it. Luke told me you broke up almost a year ago. Told me to stay away from you.” He smiled to himself. “Naturally, that just made me want to see you even more.”
    Never had I met someone so unapologetically blunt. An invisible knife sank into my ribs, puncturing my lungs of air. I was mortified by what Luke said.
    “He said that? Why?” A ripple of anger went through me. What, am I so pathetic that I can’t handle a guy like him? Do they think for one second