Read The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Yeah.”
    “Oh, come on, you have to admit. That was awesome.”
    Oh jeez, she thought. Is this frat-boy Daniel? She hadn’t seen this side of him before. So proud of himself. There was something endearing about it. But it was also pretty tactless of him. So much for being such a gentleman. A troubling thought came to her: would he show this pride to his friends and co-workers? Would he brag?
    Veronica didn’t want the eggs anymore. But she didn’t want to hurt his feelings or even bring up her concerns. She’d been enough of a basket case last night already. She couldn’t keep being so oversensitive. So what if he bragged? People talked about who they were dating. They let on when they had a good night. It was no big deal. Mel told her things that her boyfriend, Chris, probably wished could be kept between them. People talked to each other. It was normal.
    She forced herself to eat a mouthful of eggs. They were good: just enough salt and pepper… and had he put some grated cheese in them? “These are very nice,” she said after she swallowed. “The coffee’s really good, too.”
    “It’s half Kona. I get it ground at Penny’s. Half Kona, half Columbian.”
    She sipped some more, and just knowing it was half-Kona seemed to bring out the rich flavor of the beans. Relax , she told herself. Enjoy the coffee. Enjoy the eggs.
    “So what shall we do today?” he asked, and wiggled his eyebrows at her.
    Okay, I have to get out of here, she realized. “Um, I don’t know. I mean, I need to get home, you know? Make sure the cats have food. Take Harry on a walk.”
    Daniel’s smile faded a bit. “Okay,” he said. “I have the weekend free, though—I want to take advantage of that, it doesn’t happen often. You want to get together this afternoon, sometime? We could take Harry to the lake.”
    She loved to take her Australian Shepherd, Harry, to Folsom Lake, and she didn’t go nearly as much as she wanted to. Maybe all she needed was a couple of hours on her own. Go home, shower, put on some comfortable clothes… feel more like herself again. “Sure,” she said. “That sounds good. Pick me up around three?”
    “Okay,” he said, looking relieved. Poor Daniel, she thought. Why was she being so hot and cold with him? She needed to just pick one and be consistent. Either she wasn’t into him, or she wasn’t ready for this, or whatever—or she was, and she had to stop freaking out. “You want to take a shower before I drive you back?” he asked.
    “No, I’ll just get dressed,” she said, anxious to be on her way.
    “Sure,” he said lightly. He finished his eggs, and waited for her to do so as well. He took her plate and rinsed it in the kitchen sink, then put it in the dishwasher. He said nothing. Veronica wondered if she’d hurt his feelings. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She didn’t want to make him unhappy at all. She just felt overwhelmed. She wished she could turn off the feeling but she wasn’t having any luck with that.
    She stood up and walked over to him, taking his hand. “Hey,” she said softly.
    He looked at her with small smile.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    “Yeah,” he said. “You?”
    “Yeah,” she said, frowning a little. “It’s just… it just happened a little fast. I’m… processing it.”
    “Too fast?”
    “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t really have a sense of what’s normal. But after three years… I mean, I met you a month ago and I know some people go to bed after the first date even but I’m not used to that—” she stopped herself, knowing she was heading for a stream of babble that wouldn’t help the situation. “I just need to have a moment to process.”
    “Sure,” he said. He bought her hand to his lips, pressing them to her fingers, then lowered it again, still holding it. “I really like you, Ronnie. I don’t want to screw any of this up. You just tell me what you need, okay?”
    “How about you start by calling me