Read First and Ten for Free Online Page A

her head to the side as if
he were looking at her through a different dimension. “My life
seems so random most days.”
    “You plan me time,” he said with air
quotes.
    “If I didn’t, I’d never get any.” Dani stood.
“I like it up here on a random Tuesday,” she said. “Tourists aren’t
really here and I can just think. Or…at least I can when I’m by
myself.”
    “Sorry, did you need me to go?”
    “You drove me here and I’d like to get back
to my car without using a taxi.”
    “Is this part of your Tuesday routine?”
    “Not always. Why? Looking to stalk me?”
    “We seem to run in the same circles.”
    “Not really. Your circle’s a bit fast for
me.”
    “You know nothing of my circle,” he
challenged.
    “Show me your circle,” she suggested. “Where
would you be if we hadn’t gone my way tonight.”
    “In bed,” he stated plainly and Dani’s face
flushed with heat at the mere mention of Jerome’s bed. “I was going
to crash after the massage. They really are relaxing, but where
your mind went is an even better idea.”
    “You can read minds now?”
    He stood, towering over her with broad
shoulders and thick muscles. Even with the size difference she
wasn’t intimidated. Instead, his presence made her heart race for
another reason. As if afraid she’d break, he gently tucked a strand
of hair behind her ear and gooseflesh erupted up her spine. The
heat from his body warmed her as his hand caressed her cheek. When
his thumb stroked her bottom lip, her nipples perked.
    Oh he was bad for her, especially with finals
just around the corner.
    “Body language.” The timber in his voice made
her body vibrate. Or was it the fact his body was flush against
hers. How did that happen? She’d been sure there had been at least
a half a foot between them. Instead, barely an inch separated them
and she wondered if the smell of sandalwood was his cologne or the
massage oil.
    “You need to brush up on your language
skills.” The words were forced and wavered as they made their way
to her lips. Swollen and slightly trembling, she hoped he didn’t
notice.
    His lips twitched, then he took a step back.
A cold chill cut between them and she looked to the side hoping
someone had opened the outer observation deck. Instead, she saw the
area was almost completely empty.
    Unlike her, he hadn’t turned off his phone
and it went off. It was then she remembered it had gone off a few
other times during the evening, but he’d silenced it. Now he used
it as an excuse to step away. The ringtone was different than
before, she shouldn’t read too much into his exit to a quiet
corner.
    She watched his body language…or maybe it was
just his body as he moved around and his jaw tensed. He looked at
her for a moment and a scowl crossed as he turned away again.
    “I need to go,” he said, stalking back to
where she was sitting.
    “Me too,” she confessed as she looked at her
phone for the time. The elevator ride and trip to the parking
garage was a strained silence. “Thanks for tonight.”
    “Thanks?” he queried.
    “Tuesdays are usually solitary. It was nice
having someone to share the city with me.”
    “Panicking from the height.”
    “That was a bonus.” She smiled as they made
their way down Michigan Avenue back to her car. His phone rang
again, only this time it showed up on the screen of his dashboard
interrupting the light R&B music that had felt so natural she
only noticed when it was gone. A name flashed quickly on the
screen, but he flicked ignore before she could read it. The scowl
returned and she felt a chill.
    Biting at her lip, she turned her focus to
the buildings out her window. The magnificent mile with its Wrigley
Building and Tribune Tower. All built by giants of the city. Even
with new construction her father never wanted to be a part of it.
There is something about the old stone and mortar buildings with
their intricate details that set them apart. His world was on the
internet,