Read Online New Species 03 Valiant by Laurann Dohner - Free Book Online Page A

of Valiant. She’d thought about him a
    hundred times a day since they’d nearly five weeks
    before. She shook her head.
    “I was kidding.”
    Tim wasn’t buying it. “You were not. Is it leaking
    again? Come on, Tam. Let me help you. We’re friends.
    Hell, we’re practically family. I know what you make and
    its shit. You couldn’t go to college the way I did. You had
    your grandma to take care of and I know you’re still
    paying off her debts. That house she left you is a death
    trap. Let me buy you a new roof. Do you need any other
    repairs? I have the money and it’s just sitting inside a
    bank account. It’s not as though I have a girlfriend to
    blow my money on.”
    Tammy sank the black ball. Game over. She frowned
    at her best friend. “We’ve had this argument before and I
    won’t take your money. Thank you from the bottom of
    my heart but I’m not a leech.”
    “That’s bullshit and you know it. I’d never accuse you
    of that. You always had to do everything for everyone so
    let me help you this once. It’s what friends and family do
    for each other.”
    “I don’t want to fight.”
    She walked away from the pool table and moved to
    their table. She gripped her beer, peered at the lime
    stuck inside it, and took a sip. She rarely drank alcohol
    but sometimes she had the urge. She finished off her first
    and last beer of the night as she drained the bottle. She’d
    felt the need to feel a slight buzz more often since she’d
    met Valiant.
    “We’re not fighting. I’m trying to reason with you. I
    live with my parents and I don’t pay a mortgage. The
    house is paid off. I just pay the taxes, which are
    chickenfeed. I make really good money and I have all the
    toys I want. Let me help you out. Do you remember
    when my dad had his stroke last year and they sent out
    that shitty home nurse from the hospital for him? You
    came and took care of him. You found the wonderful
    woman who takes care of him now. You changed his
    diapers for weeks and wouldn’t take a penny. Now let me
    help you.”
    “Tell you what,” Tammy sighed, turning to face him,
    “you can come change my diapers if or when I ever have
    a stroke. Until then, don’t shove money at me. It’s
    different.”
    Tim laughed. “Finally! You’re giving me a green light
    to take your pants off.”
    Tammy laughed and shook her head. “You’re
    disgusting.”
    He wiggled his eyebrows. “Hey, that’s the closest
    thing to an invite to see you naked that I’ve ever gotten.”
    “That’s not true.” She disposed of her beer bottle
    inside a trash can and gripped her purse. A glance at her
    watch showed it was just after eleven. “Don’t forget the
    time I wanted to go skinny dipping when we were ten.
    You chickened out. You thought a snapping turtle would
    latch onto you in a bad place if you took off your
    underwear and waded into the pond. You could have
    seen me naked.”
    “That doesn’t count. I thought all girls were yucky at
    that age and besides, you hadn’t grown up enough yet to
    see anything good.”
    She laughed and waved. “Neither had you. I have to
    go. We have to cater a luncheon tomorrow at the church
    and I have to be at work at seven to help prepare. A shley
    Bless met some guy and is getting married. Tomorrow is
    their engagement luncheon.”
    Tim shuddered. “Someone is marrying her? Did she
    have a personality transplant? She’s the most annoying
    person I’ve ever met. Poor sucker.” He took a deep drink
    of his beer.
    Tammy snorted. “No. She’s still a bitch but she’s
    convinced this idiot it’s somehow cute to listen to her rant
    about everything. That or she uses that big mouth of
    hers to give him amazing head.”
    She walked toward the door, waved, and blew him a
    kiss. She heard Tim choke on his beer over her parting
    comment and laughed as she left the bar.
    Summers in northern California could be weird. It
    had been hot during the day but the sun had gone down,
    bringing a chilly