SNOW GLOBE Read Free

band?”
    “Yeah, sort of. My mom likes them. I know it’s a weird name, but it fits. Can I use your phone to text my mom? I left mine at home.”
    Walker smiled and handed Aja his phone. “So you’re not a fugitive, but you’re afraid of the police?”
    “It’s a long story,” Aja said, typing. “Any chance you could drop me at the mall?”
    “My pleasure,” Walker said, and flashed a wide grin as Rocky’s car passed by. “What’s a nice girl like you doing on the lam?” he asked as he pulled into traffic.
    Aja stayed low in her seat and tossed his phone on the seat. “I’m sort of a problem kid at school, and I proved it to them again today. Officer Rocky and I are old friends, and I can’t be late for work again. That’s why I didn’t want to hang around while he was there.” Aja sat up a little higher. “So what’s your story? A male stripper wannabe?”
    “Very funny. I’m a student making some extra money posing for a nice group of artists. One of the art teachers posted the ad at school. I’m, um, trying new things.” He blushed a little. “I didn’t expect anyone else except some older ladies. Did you see anything?”
    “You were on a pedestal.” Aja settled in her seat and smiled. “Hard to miss.”
    Walker laughed. “Then I hope I made a good first impression.” He glanced at her. “So where do you work?”
    “Abercrombie. And they’ll be mad if I’m late again.” She looked at her outfit. “Plus, I didn’t have time to change into their clothes, so I’ll probably have to fold all night.”
    “What time do you get off tonight? Will you need a ride home?” Walker looked at her. “Maybe we could hang out.”
    Aja hesitated. He was cute, but she wasn’t sure she could get interested in a guy that stripped for money. Although he had an aura of goodness around him that pulled her in more than she wanted. “Thanks, I’ll call my mom,” Aja said, shaking the lure of this guy’s magnetic energy. “Where do you go to school?”
    “At the community college. I just started this fall.”
    “Where did you go to high school?”
    “Chicago area,” Walker said. “Just graduated high school last year.”
    “And you came all the way to Dallas for a community college education?”
    “Yeah, sort of.” He turned into the mall parking lot. “My grandfather has Alzheimer’s and is in an assisted living home. My grandmother decided to move with him but couldn’t bear to sell their house.” Walker stopped at the entrance. “They said they’d pay for me to go to school if I’d stay in their house and keep it up.” He shook his head. “It’s really sad to see him go in and out of his life.”
    “That’s rough. Sorry,” Aja said. “It’s nice of you to be here for them.”
    “Yeah, and I get to shake life up a little by moving to Texas.” Walker turned to her and smiled. “I’m heading to the home now to have dinner with them.” He laughed. “I used to sleep till noon, eat lunch at five o’clock. When I have dinner with them the food’s so bland it’s like eating air and we’re done by six.”
    Aja eyed his foil-wrapped packages. “And I suppose you’re going to eat my piece of Mrs. Wells’s coffee cake later tonight.”
    Walker grinned and raised an eyebrow. “It was worth getting naked for.” He reached for a pen and paper. “Here’s my number in case your mom can’t pick you up. I’d be happy to.”
    Aja took his number and put it in her purse. “Thanks.”
    Walker looked at her. “It must be pretty cool to have a mom like yours, being a psychic and all. I hear she also sings with a band.”
    Aja shrugged. “She’s cool most of the time, but mostly I feel like we’re the town idiots.”
    “Does she ever do readings for you?”
    “Hardly ever. She says it’s hard for her to see my aura, and she gets really weird afterward. Usually a psychic can’t read people that are close to them.”
    “Really?”
    Aja shifted the focus from her mom’s