Read Online Need You Tonight by Marquita Valentine - Free Book Online Page A

that we’ve got the reason why he hasn’t called me back out of the way, I can finally get some answers. “About Mrs. Reeves,” I begin.
    “What about her?”
    I frown. He doesn’t sound defensive or guilty. Just tired. “She’s ah… our age.”
    “You’re shitting me.”
    “No.” I run a hand through my hair and walk out to the back porch. “She’s making a list of things for me to fix.”
    “Is that why you were calling?”
    Better to lie than admit that I was pissed about my reaction to her. “Yeah. I wanted to make sure it was okay.”
    “Of course it is. Miss Violet would love it. That house hasn’t been lived in for a while now. There has to be a shit-ton of things to fix.”
    “Brooklyn mentioned not being able to lock the back porch door and the guest bedroom window.”
    There’s a loud silence, before my brother speaks again, “You’re on a first name basis with her? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah, seriously. Watch yourself and remember that you’re not staying.”
    “What does that have to do with her?”
    “Everything. She’s fragile and… Look, I’m not trying to bust your balls, but women seem to fall all over themselves when it comes to you. That could be a real problem.”
    “It’s my problem women are attracted to me?”
    “Hell yes, it is. You’re not stupid or ignorant of the fact. Watch yourself and do what she asks, nothing more. Got it?”
    “Fuck you, Cole. I haven’t done shit to her, and I don’t plan to. So you don’t have to worry about me sullying her reputation or body.” Except I have touched her. I have pressed up against the wall and felt her shiver in my arms. I’ve tasted her skin.
    “That’s not what I mean,” he snaps. “Quit being a dick and just listen to me.”
    I grind my teeth together. “I need to go. Mrs. Reeves needs my help this evening, but don’t worry, I won’t fuck her before I’m done with the list she’s giving me.”
    “ Parker .”
    Disgusted with myself and with his assumptions of me, I end our call. It rings again, but I refuse to answer it. Instead, I toss the phone on the ground beside me and head back inside.
    Seething with anger, I change clothes and put on some running shoes. With my earbuds firmly in place, I jog outside and then down the road. Brooklyn doesn’t deserve any residual anger from my talk with Cole, and this is the only way I know how to deal with it.
    Growing up, Cole used to make fun of me for being so healthy. For quitting smoking, for rarely drinking, for constantly working out, and for buying food that was good for us. Only, he didn’t know the real reason behind it. Those things I could control. Not anyone else. Not the woman who raised us when it was convenient for her, and certainly not the woman who’d hired me at fifteen to work for her agency.
    My shoes hit the road, the pull of my muscles a comfort. I push myself to go harder, veering off the main road and into the woods. Here, the path is less traveled, and I have to dodge low-hanging branches and jump rotting logs. The world fades as I head deeper into the forest. The air changes, becoming thicker. Sweat begins to gather at the small of my back and on my chest.
    I keep running, until my lungs feel as though they’re about to burst and my legs are burning. Slightly hunched over as I slow to a walk, I breathe deeply and try to calm my racing heart.
    My brother is right, no matter what I think about myself or what I used to do. I have no business getting involved in any capacity with Brooklyn. She sure as hell hasn’t invited me to get more involved.
    I barely know her, or her story, only the facts about her life that she’s revealed. Like her husband’s death.
    Only, I don’t want to spend my summer alone. All my buddies have paired off with good women. Women who love and respect them, accept their pasts, and want their futures. I can’t see how any woman would ever feel that way about my past. Or