Read On Paper for Free Online Page B

hear. I don't know that Lily and Miles would have noticed anyway.
    "She told me that we were meeting Miles’ brother," I said.
    He chuckled under his breath, "Miles’ brother."
    "Is that funny? Is it surprising that someone would refer to you as his brother instead of the other way around? Does that bruise your fragile ego? Is it hard not being the center of everyone's attention?"
    I saw surprise hit his eyes. "Wow. That was harsh. I might be a little slow on the uptake, but I'm starting to think you don't like me much, Quinn," he mused.
    I huffed and took another sip of water. I shouldn't have let him get to me.
    "Why is that anyway?" he asked
    "What?"
    "Why is it that you don't like me?"
    I leveled my gaze at him, questioning whether or not I should really have this conversation. I didn't want to make this dinner any more awkward than it was already going to be.
    "It's not that I don't like you," I said finally. He tilted his head, giving me a look that said he didn't believe me. "I think you might be a little arrogant," I admitted. "It's probably not all your fault. You do get a lot of attention, but I don't really find it to be an attractive quality in a person," I said.
    "Please, go on," he encouraged. He leaned back into the booth and crossed his arms across his chest managing to make it look relaxed instead of defensive.
    "You get everything you want. I've seen how people react to you around here. All you have to do is snap your fingers or flash that smirky smile and they all line up for a chance to be the next to take a ride on the Keaton Harris Express." I said.
    "First off, it's definitely not an express ride," he said. I rolled my eyes. "And, second, I haven't seen you line up for anything, so apparently I don't get everything that I want."
    "See? You are so full of yourself," I said.
    "Maybe if you got to know me you would change your mind," he suggested.
    "It's not important. We're here. Let's just have dinner," I said. I didn't want to get into it further.
    "I like you Quinn," he said softly.
    "You don't know me," I said and I immediately wanted to take it back. Hadn't he just used that same argument on me? I saw his smile widen.
    "Exactly."
    The waiter showed up then with a bottle of wine that I'd never even noticed Miles order. Why did I keep letting him get to me? Maybe it was that he made me nervous. I hated that he did.
    "Are we ready to order?" The waiter asked. I hadn't even looked at my menu.
    "Yes," Lily announced happily. I grabbed up the menu and frantically looked over the selections.
    Keaton leaned in, his voice velvet in my ear, "The salmon is quite good here." I felt the shiver drift across my skin and I squared my shoulders in defense of the reaction.
    "And for you miss?" the waiter asked.
    "Um, the salmon," I squeaked. I swear I felt his satisfied smile beside me.
    "I'll have the same," Keaton said handing over the menus.
    Luckily, Miles and Lily decided to include us in their conversation so I didn't have to worry about keeping our side one going. I didn't think I could have even if I had to. But as a foursome it wasn't that bad. In fact, I even started to enjoy myself. I hated to admit it, but the banter between Keaton and Miles was funny. They were relaxed with each other and it brought out a different side of Keaton. But then again, like we'd both pointed out, we didn't really know each other.
    It wasn't until dessert that my mouth showed up again.
    "So, Keaton, tell us how a dude ends up writing romance novels?" Lily asked.
    He smiled and I could tell from his expression that he got this question a lot. Miles chuckled under his breath.
    "I actually started out as a news journalist," he said. I saw Miles' eyes shoot up in surprise. So I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth.
    "Oh, so he's going to tell the real story," Miles smiled, sipping his wine.
    Keaton shrugged and continued his story. "I have a thing for news. I got my degree and started running all over trying to get my big break.