Black (Clashing Colors Book 1) Read Free Page B

a whole new person.”
    “You’re serious?” she asked skeptically and took the business card he had found in his bag.
    “Yes, I definitely think you should go,” Michael said and then he shook our hands for goodbyes. “Good luck with it.”
    When he walked away, we stood for a moment in awkward silence.
    “Do you have time for a cup of coffee?” I asked.
    She shrugged. “Sure, but you’re buying because I’m broke.”
    Her comment hit me hard. I had just left my childhood home in Medina, one of the poshest places around Seattle. My parents, Darcia’s grandparents, regularly dined and golfed with neighbors that included Bill Gates and others like him. There was no reason why anyone in our family should be unable to buy a cup of coffee.
    I took her to the nearest Starbucks and even though she only ordered a cup of hot cocoa, I made sure to buy a selection of cake and fruit in case she was hungry.
    We found a table in the corner and I noticed how she meticulously wiped the table clean with napkins before she sat down.
    For a moment we sat and looked at each other. She had a lot of piercings in her ears, a large nose ring, and one more in her lower lip. Her long hair was pitch-black but I could see blond roots and figured she was naturally dark blond like her father. She might be a pretty girl, if not for the exaggerated use of black eyeliner, mascara, and purple lipstick. The only thing that looked remotely natural were her green irises and the little beauty mark above her upper lip, and even that had me wondering if it was real or painted on like Madonna’s used to be.
    “Are you just going to sit there and stare at me all night, or do you have something to say?” she asked in a bitchy manner.
    I took a sip of my coffee. “You’re not being very nice considering I just paid three hundred dollars to bust your ass out of jail.”
    She gave an uninterested shrug. “I’ll pay you back.”
    “How?… You said you’re broke.”
    I received a look of annoyance from her. “Yeah, well, it may take me a while, but I always pay my debts.”
    “Tell me about yourself,” I said and leaned back in my chair.
    “Why?”
    “Because I just found out I have a niece and I want to get to know you.”
    “So I reckon Brent is your brother, then?” she asked.
    “Stepbrother,” I corrected.
    Her eyes narrowed. “That explains why you look nothing like him.” She glanced me over, speculatively. “I bet you played football in high school and was popular with all the girls.” It didn’t come out as a compliment, but sounded more like an accusation.
    “You say it like it’s a bad thing…” I laughed, but she didn’t laugh back, so I tried again from a different angle.
    “What makes you say that?”
    With an arched brow she picked up a blueberry muffin. “Because you have that wholesome boy kind of look. You’ve even got a dimple when you smile.”
    “I’m twenty-nine. I hope you don’t think I look like a boy.”
    She didn’t look at me but picked off a large chunk of muffin and put it in her mouth. “Nahh… I can see you’re not a boy; I’m just saying that I bet you were dreamy in high school.”
    “Dreamy?”
    She lifted her shoulder in another shrug and chewed her cake.
    “I don’t think I’ve ever been called dreamy before.”
    “Maybe not to your face.”
    “I don’t know if I should be amused or offended,” I said. “I see myself as a badass soldier, not a dreamy high school kid.”
    She gave me a bored expression. “Again, I’m referring to the past.”
    “Oh, I see, so I’m not dreamy anymore?” I teased, but she didn’t take the bait.
    “I’ll tell you about me if you tell me about you,” I suggested.
    “Okay.” She pinned me with her green eyes. “Here’s something about me. I’ve been living on my own for seven years, I don’t have any family, I’m good at drawing, and I like lime pie.”
    Has she seriously lived on her own since she was fourteen?
    I cleared my throat.