Love Thief Read Free Page A

last few months she lived with my mother, and every week there was something. So don’t tell me how to deal with her. Good-bye.”
    Charmaine left him standing there, but curiosity made her peep in the direction she left him after she got in the car. He was gone. She searched the parking lot but didn’t see him. Well, good because she had let enough outside forces slow her down. Amaya could stew at home and reflect on what she did while Charmaine wrote a little more code. Just a little more, and she would have a prototype. Nothing could get in the way.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Charmaine sat with a manual open and her laptop in front of her. The words blurred before her eyes. She rubbed them and checked the time then the screen. What the hell? Two hours had passed, and she hadn’t done a damn thing. This was his fault. Why did she have to keep thinking about him, hearing his voice in her head? He was throwing her off her game. Not to mention the chortles in the corner and the blaring cartoons.
    Maybe if she stretched her legs a bit and walked around, she could get her focus on point. Her apartment was more like a gigantic room. The building had been an old warehouse and was remodeled into studio apartments. Charmaine had loved it on sight and had lived here for four years. She didn’t want to move, but in all honesty, if she was going to have to raise Amaya, the little girl should have her own room.
    Charmaine wandered over near the door, wondering if all the apartments in the building were big open spaces or did some vary. What about what’s his name’s? She mentally kicked herself because she knew damn well she remembered his name was Elliot. Talk about a pompous moniker, the bastard.
    Chewing on her bottom lip, she stood at the door with her hand on the knob. Which direction did he live? Which place was his?
    “Oh, who cares?” she growled, and Amaya looked up.
    “Who cares about what?”
    “Never mind. Watch your shows.” Charmaine told herself not to, but she opened the door. Just when she did, she found him standing there, hand raised to knock. Charmaine blinked. “Are you stalking us?”
    He grinned. “Me? Maybe.”
    She had expected him to say no.
    “I thought I would stop by and tell you which apartment is mine, I mean should you need me.”
    Charmaine folded her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. “You got bold after your accusation, didn’t you?”
    “I was always bold, lovely lady. I just wasn’t getting anywhere. The fact that I got to see your face unobscured has given me new hope.”
    He was unbelievable, but deep inside she acknowledged a tiny bit of amusement. She didn’t let it show on her face. As quick as she could, she took in his form. He wore khaki slacks and a short sleeved collared blue shirt. A nerd, she thought, cringing, but the arms sticking out from the sleeves were muscular and tanned with a smattering of fine hair on them.
    “I’m sure I don’t need to know where you live.”
    “Elliot.”
    She hadn’t paused as if she didn’t recall his name.
    He pointed to the right. “I’m next door, one down. You’re free to stop by any time.”
    “Thanks, but I don’t like people dropping by unannounced. So if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my project.”
    “What are you so busy with all the time?”
    She didn’t answer.”
    “I’m headed out to the quad. If you like, you can join me.”
    Charmaine had another unwelcome flashback, this one generic. For some reason she thought of high school and the quadrangle outside of the cafeteria where the kids hung out. In the back of the warehouse, or rather in the middle of four buildings, there was a good size square like a mini-park with benches and trees. A few of the residents spent time out there, enjoying the breeze and sunshine. Charmaine had stepped out once and never gone back. Not because it wasn’t nice but because people tended to talk to her, and she had been distracted from work.
    “Thanks,” she said