Read Online Make Me by Alyssa Turner - Free Book Online

longneck out of the bag, and she took it gratefully.
    “I want to help.”
    “No need. Just sit right there and look pretty.”
    Boy, he was laying it on thick, but she’d be lying to say she wasn’t happy to soak it all in. He chopped parsley and garlic along with onions and red peppers. Rebecca watched in awe of his effortless skill.
    “Music?” she asked, rising from her chair and grabbing her iPod from her purse. He nodded and used the knife to point at the docking station by the TV. What suited the mood? Nothing too slow or romantic; that was just too damn obvious. Nothing too fast or too hard; not the time for the club mix she used to push out the last two miles on the treadmill. She settled on a song that spelled out her mind-set perfectly. Don’t know why I didn’t come…
    Manny looked at her quizzically, intrigue played out in his expression. “Interesting selection.”
    She scrolled through her playlist. “I could find something else if you want.”
    “No, it’s kind of perfect.” He shook his head at some internal humor. “Got to love a song about not doing the things you know you should for the person you claim to love.”
    She smiled at his perceptiveness. “Regret is something most people know about.”
    “You?”
    Rebecca kind of regretted that he still had on his shirt. Norah Jones kept on singing. Don’t know why… “No more than anyone else, I suppose.” No less either.
    There were plenty of things Rebecca wished she’d been brave enough to try. Moving to New York on her own was supposed to be a new adventure, and it had been, professionally at least. The rest of her hopes and dreams sat at the bottom of her underwear drawer.
    Manny put the dish in the oven and came around to the futon, kicking up his feet, looking intrigued.
    Rebecca sat down next to him, with a surprising urge to share. “I’ve been trying to live more in the moment, though. Things can change suddenly, the things you enjoy. Opportunities…they can vanish at any moment. I think I’ve had a lesson in that firsthand these last twenty-four hours.”
    Manny’s voice was soft, low. “Remember, you can stay here…”
    “I know, ‘as long as I need.’ Thank y—”
    He connected with her lightning fast, but his lips then lingered with a slow, steady caress that turned her blood into a gaseous state. It was as if she’d floated away, that kiss taking her to a place where her heart knew it belonged.
    Manny nibbled her bottom lip, and his warm breath tickled her. “I told you, no more ‘thank-yous.’”
    She grabbed him then, two big fistfuls of his shirt. No regrets. Soon she’d find a place of her own, and she knew that if she didn’t take this opportunity there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d forgive herself. She had to find out where the sparks between them might lead. Had anything ever made her feel so alive? The answer was suddenly very simple: no.
    She curled her toes in her newly retrieved ballet flats. This meant something. You don’t walk away from anything that feels so perfect.
    Manny took her lead and ran with it, all the way to the top of the Veritage building it seemed, because Rebecca could have sworn that kiss was giving her an out-of-body experience. Then he pushed back, breathing hard, looking…looking…she wasn’t sure.
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    He didn’t look sorry, nor did he feel sorry in the way his hand stroked at her hip, his fingers burning hot over the waistband of her washed-linen shorts and under the peasant blouse she’d thought right for a cozy fish dinner at home.
    His home.
    “Oh fuck. This complicates things, doesn’t it?”
    He sighed. “Complicated doesn’t even start to describe it.”
    Rebecca felt her blood rush to her face. “I can’t believe I grabbed you. Guess you’re wondering just how red my face can get.” She laughed nervously, trying desperately not to sound torn apart.
    Manny didn’t laugh, not with her, not at her, not at all. He gave her a