Read Online Live for You by Marquita Valentine - Free Book Online Page B

mention a veteran. However, he
respects his parents and most of the time, he does exactly what’s
expected of him.
    He pauses, looking over his
shoulder. “Would that stop you?”
    I’ve been doing as I please
since the age of ten. Then again, my parents aren’t his and could
give two shits about me. Still, I won’t lie to him. “Hell,
no.”

Chapter Nine
     
     
     
     
     
    Violet
    I’m sitting on the couch,
computer in my lap while I go through my email. My inbox has almost
a thousand unanswered messages, most of them from “friends”, my
agent, my handlers and my publicists. I don’t answer those. I do,
however, answer the ones from my fans that my publicists forward to
me from my official Violet Lynn website.
    They don’t deserve to be
punished for my lack of enthusiasm over my career. Plus, I’m pretty
darn grateful I still have fans. And if I have to admit it, I’m
grateful to have publicists as well, since they sort through all
those emails: the good, the bad and the supremely ugly.
    There is a knock on the
door as I hit send on the last one. Closing my laptop, I place it
beside me and uncross my legs, heading to the foyer.
    I open the door, not
surprised to find Lacey Evans standing on the other side. She fits
the description that Nana gave me before she “conveniently” had to
go run some errands. Lacey is very pretty with auburn hair, heavy
bangs over brown eyes and freckles that dust her nose and
cheeks.
    “ Hi,” I say, holding up my
hand. “You must be Lacey.”
    She stares at me, her eyes
widening a little before a shy smile graces her face. “You must be
Violet Rae, Miss Violet’s granddaughter. I’ve heard at lot about
you.”
    “ Call me Rae.” I open the
screen door, gesturing for her to come inside. “I’ll think I’m in
trouble if you don’t.”
    She laughs nervously,
following me to the living room, but saying absolutely
nothing. Great . I
can’t even make small talk. Maybe if I texted her…
    I grab the brown paper
grocery bag from beside the recliner and hand it to Lacey. She
takes it with another shy smile and stand there, looking at me.
“So…”
    Nodding my head and
smiling, I say, “Yeah…”
    “ Guess I’ll go.” She heads
back to the front of the house and this time I follow
her.
    I should say something.
Maybe invite her to…Oh, I don’t know: go shopping or get our nails
done. Take a chance, I tell myself.
    “ Wait!”I cry out. She
freezes and I ram into her back. “Oompf.”
    A distressed sound echoes
as she falls to her knees, clothing spilling out of the
bag.
    “ Oh God. I’m so sorry,
Lacey.”
    Her long hair touches the
floor, but she remains unmoving as I gather everything. “It’s
okay,” she says in a whisper thin voice. “Didn’t know I needed to
wear my knee and elbow pads in the house.”
    I grin at her joke. “Yeah,
well, the next time you come over, wear a helmet.”
    “ It’s outside, on the
porch.” Slowly she stands, a few inches taller than me and pushes
her hair out of her face. She’s not smiling, but she doesn’t look
mad either. Just resigned and a little sad. I refrain from hugging
her.
    “ Funny,” I say, shoving
the clothes back in the bag. “Let’s try this again,
okay?”
    “ Okay.”
    “ So, um, I was wondering,
if you’d like to go do something sometime?” I shift my weight from
one side to the other. “I haven’t been the most social person
lately and my nana wants me to make friends.” I poke her in the
arm. “Tag. You’re it.” I did not just say or do that. Any of
it.
    Then again, can anyone who
wears a t-shirt with the slogan: Keep Calm
and Hit Like a Girl , be all that
snobby?
    Lacey digs into the pocket
of her loose jeans and pulls out a piece of folded paper. “I’m
doing a rally this Saturday, if you want to come. We usually go for
dinner afterwards.”
    Opening the paper, I
quickly read all the pertinent information, then glance up at her.
“You’re a Roller Derby girl?” This is so