Read Her Name Is Trouble: A small-town contemporary romance (The Daimsbury Chronicles Book 2) for Free Online Page A

tactic for what it was; a deflection. “Tell me you still have some tandoori from the lunch run.”
    “Better yet. There’s some fresh made for the evening crowd. I’ll get you a plate.”
    “Great. Easy on the rice, though, please.”
    He smiled as Jari stood and walked back to the kitchen. He only had to kill a few minutes before Missy waltzed out into the empty restaurant with a plate in her hand. To his surprise, she carried it to his table and placed it in front of him all without losing a drop of the food.
    His thoughts must’ve been obvious on his face because she laughed and pointed at her bare feet.
    “I don’t trip if I don’t wear any shoes.”
    “How is that possible? Barefoot and flat soles are almost the same.”
    “Almost is right.” She grinned and turned towards the kitchen. “Enjoy your food.”
    He didn’t want her to go. That same knife of loss slashed through him once more. He loved her sunny nature that appeared to cast a hole in the gloom that had enveloped his existence since Mary Beth had left him.
    Luke frowned. Where did these Heathcliff-type ramblings come from?
    “Stay,” he said. “Keep me company while I eat.”
    She tilted her head to the side. “Is that really a good idea?”
    “Why wouldn’t it be?”
    “I run the risk of hurting you again.”
    He leaned forward and put his forearms on the table. “That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
    Soft, rosy colour dappled her cheeks, and it seemed to him she bit back a smile. Then, with a plop not unlike the one she’d given on the sofa in his mum’s front room, she sat down in the opposite booth.
    “Go ahead.” She nodded at the plate. “The food’ll grow cold.”
    He took a spoonful of rice and chicken in tandoori sauce and closed his eyes in bliss.
    Missy laughed, and the light, lovely sound jolted him like an electric current. He glanced at her, finding a beautiful smile on her features.
    “I know,” she said. “I had the same reaction the first time I tasted Jari’s signature dish. And every other time since.”
    “I miss this, you know.”
    “What? Tandoori? They have joints everywhere in New York.”
    “No, I mean, good food I can trust to eat without having to worry about it having gluten of some sort in there.”
    “Oh, yeah.” She scrunched her nose. “I imagine that mustn’t be easy. Like, there’s probably only a few staples you can get around.”
    He nodded. “And it starts getting old real fast.” He took in another spoonful and swallowed. “In a way, it’s a good thing, ’cause I don’t derail my diet that way and don’t have to worry about clothes being too tight when I go for a runway show or a shoot.”
    “Now that is strange.”
    “What is?”
    “A man talking about dieting. Lord knows I don’t do any of that, but you’re a guy, you know. Well, no offense, but you get my drift.”
    He chuckled. “None taken. I’m a model, Missy. That says it all.”
    After downing half the plate with silence between them, he glanced up to find her studying him. “What?”
    She shrugged. “I was trying to see how much you’ve changed since your debut in the modelling world.”
    “And?”
    “Doesn’t look like you’ve changed much. I still see the same lad as on that very first Sinners&Saints poster.”
    A laugh escaped him. She must not be looking hard enough. He’d definitely aged in the past eight years. “You’re good for my ego.”
    He finished his plate and pushed it aside. An insane question popped inside his mind, and he asked it before he could lose his nerve.
    “Don’t you miss Southern food?”
    She seemed startled by the query, eyes growing wide and the smile fading from her lips. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her reaching for the hems of her long sleeves and bunching the fabric in her closed palms. He must’ve touched a sore spot.
    Perfect, Morelli. He couldn’t have put his foot in his mouth if he’d aimed any better.
    Then she gave him a contrived smile