The Manga Girl Read Free

things.”
          “I had no idea I was sending out those signals,” Nick said.
          “I just wondered about it, was all,” Lucy said.
          “Is that why you decided to move in?”
          “Maybe, I guess. I’m not sure,” Lucy shrugged.
          “So now that I’ve told you that I’m straight, does that change things?”
          Lucy paused, glanced at Summer, and said, “No.”
          Nick thought he detected a brief expression of disappointment pass across Summer’s face - and wondered if he had hit upon the reason for her veiled hostility.
          “Actually,” he said, “I was having a similar thought about you two.”
          “What do you mean?” Summer asked him.
          “Well, you have been sharing the same room…”
          Lucy put her hand to her mouth and tittered, but Summer didn’t seem amused.
          “Is that really what’s on your mind, Nick?” she asked.
          “Hey, come on,” Nick said. “You started it.”
          Lucy stood up, yawned and stretched, raising her arms and standing on her toes.
          “Time out, guys,” she said. “I’m beat. Do you mind if I go up?”
          “Sure,” Nick said. “I’ve got to meet some friends.”
          Lucy saw Summer out and when she came back, she said, “Don’t worry about her. She’s got a good heart, really.”
          Nick shrugged. “I’m easy.”
          They stood facing each other for a moment. Lucy rubbed her cheek and shifted on her bare feet. She really did look tired. Nick was kind of hoping for another peck on the cheek, but when none came, he said, “I’ve got to go. I’ll try not to make any noise when I get in.”
          “The way I’m feeling right now, a brass marching band wouldn’t wake me.”

      That didn’t sound like an invitation to stay, so Nick said goodnight and went out to meet Sid.

Chapter Three
     
          Nick got back home at one in the morning, not drunk, but not exactly sober. They’d shot some pool, hit a few more bars, but when they’d decided to head on to a strip club, Nick had bailed out. He’d taken some stick from the guys over that, but Sid had guessed the reason why - Nick hadn’t been able to get Lucy out of his head the whole night.
          “I can’t blame you, man,” Sid had surprised Nick by saying. “We’re out looking for hot chicks and you’ve already got one curled up in your back bedroom. Go get her.”
          The fact was Nick had no intention of ‘getting’ her. Lucy was a paying tenant, and somebody’s daughter, and he had promised her that she could trust him. Besides, if he was reading the wrong signs and he tried something, it could seriously backfire, leaving him in deep shit. He was a college graduate, a house owner, and he had a skilled and satisfying job - so even a desirable little sexpot like Lucy was simply not worth taking a chance on. That said there was no denying the effect she had on him, so self-control would have to be the order of the day.
          As he crept up the stairs trying to avoid the creaking floorboards, Nick’s sole intention was to clean his teeth and go to bed. When he reached the landing however, he stopped. Lucy’s door was partially open.
          He remained frozen in mid-stride, wobbling slightly on drunken legs.
          No, she just forgot to lock it because she was so tired. Let her be.
          All he had to do was go to the bathroom and if he had been cold sober he probably would have, but instead he tiptoed to her door and eased it a few inches wider. Holding his breath, he slipped inside and approached her bed. The light was off, but a shaft of silver-blue moonlight illuminated the room.
          Lucy was laying on her side with her back to him. She hadn’t got under the sheets, maybe because of the heat, but she had managed to slip out of her shorts and was now clad only in