Read Online Beauty and the Dark by Georgia le Carre - Free Book Online

let my eyes slide up his arm and towards his neck, to where his straight black hair lies, as if inviting a woman to rake her hands through it. Before he catches me staring I turn away from the sight. I gaze blindly out of the window. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I know I can never have a man like him so I should stop fantasizing about him. It is pointless and I’ll just end up getting my heart broken.
    It is only a short drive before we arrive at our destination. He parks the car on a single yellow.
    “Won’t you get a ticket?”
    He winks. “Nobody around here would dare give me a ticket.”
    “Why not?”
    “They all come to my free surgery day, and they know I’ll ruin their health forever, if they do.”
    “You’d do that?”
    “I don’t know. My car is very precious to me,” he teases.
    We walk to a small burger bar called Earl’s Burgers.
    Even before Jack has closed the door a gruff voice bellows from the open kitchen, “In the name of Jaysus it’s Jackfuckin’Irish.” Seconds later a grinning man with close cropped bright red hair and tattoos crawling up his skinny neck vaults over the serving counter and comes over to us. He claps Jack on the back enthusiastically. “Hey dude.”
    “Alright there, bud,” Jack says.
    The man’s pale blue eyes slide over to me. “And who’s this beauty, Junior?”
    “Sofia, Paddy. Paddy, Sofia,” Jack introduces.
    He leans forward and takes my hand in his. His hands are rough and hot. “And how come she’s hanging out with the likes of you?”
    “She’s helping out at Kids Rule,” Jack explains shortly.
    Paddy’s eyes warm up. “Aww … you’re a darling, sweetheart.”
    “Watch it, mate,” Jack warns, and there is an underlying ring of steel to his voice that causes even Paddy to jump dramatically.
    He raises both hands and takes a long step back.
    “Ach, Jack. Don’t bite my head off just because your bachelor days are numbered.”
    I flush to the roots of my hair.
    “Jesus, will you leave it?” Jack swears.
    Paddy laughs, hits him heartily on the back, and leads us to our table.
    “Don’t mind him,” Jack says tightly. “He drank his IQ down to room temperature.”
    Unconcerned with the insult, Paddy laughs garrulously. “He wants three babies,” he calls out, holding up three fingers while walking backwards. Then, he jumps back over the counter and lands back in the kitchen.
    “Well. He’s a fun guy,” I say casually.
    Jack scowls. “God knows what’s got into him. He’s not usually so … fun.”
    I grin. “I like him.”
    He loses the scowl. “Paddy’s all right, I guess.” 
    A curvy waitress in a tight pink T-shirt and a pair of pink stretch-jeans comes to our table. She hands me a menu.
    “All right Jack?” she says, giving him a bright pink smile.
    His lips twitch in greeting. “Hello, Shannon.”
    I order the Bacon Cheese Big Murphy Burger with chips and a Coke.
    “The usual with a side of coleslaw and sweet potato fries,” Jack tells the girl.
    “Right you are,” Shannon says and, taking the menu from me, sashays away.
    I pull my eyes away from her departing back, she really does have an amazing figure, and find Jack staring at me. His look is so intense it practically takes my breath away.
    “So you’re a plastic surgeon,” I say nervously.
    “Guilty as charged.”
    “It must be fun playing God with other people’s faces and bodies.”
    He shrugs. “It’s just a job.”
    “Just a job? Don’t you like it?”
    “Not particularly.”
    “Really? So why did you become one?”
    “It’s less hypocritical.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s a long story, Sofia.”
    I lean forward. “I like long stories.”
    The waitress comes back with two cans of Coke and two glass tumblers. 
    “Well, I didn’t start off wanting to suck fat out of people who are too lazy to get on a treadmill and inject fat into self-obsessed celebrities’ faces. When I was young I was an idealist. I wanted to cure the