Read Online Not Looking for Love: Episode 3 by Lena Bourne - Free Book Online Page A

 
    "How picky are you?" I climb off the bed, the motion sending a sharp stab through my belly, but it recedes quickly and doesn't linger. "Fine, you decide."
    Half an hour later we're walking along the sidewalk. The cold wind is sending my hair flying all around my head, and every step I take causes a sharp jolt of pain in my stomach. Scott watches me for awhile, walking as slowly as I am, then wraps his arm around me. I lean against him gratefully, my arm around his waist.  
    "You sure you can walk all the way to the beach?" he asks.
    I grin up at him. "I hope so, because I really want that clam chowder." His eyes are blue like a cloudless summer sky today. "If not, you could always carry me."
    "Oh yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun for me." He leans down and kisses me softly, just a peck, surprising me so I can't return it.
    It takes awhile to reach the beach, and I'm winded by the time we do, my cheeks red from the cold.
    "We can eat somewhere else," I say as we stop in front of the clam chowder place.
    He smiles and holds the door open for me. "No, Gail, that's OK. I'll just have a burger or something."
    We get a table by the window, which is so small our legs are touching under it. I'd prefer to be sitting next to him, but there's no room.
    When my soup arrives, I dig in hungrily. It's too hot and scalds my tongue, making me curse. I really wanted to enjoy it.
    "You should blow on that first," Scott says and hands me the glass of water.
    "Why didn't you say something before?" I say and grin, taking the glass of water and dipping my tongue in.
    He's just looking at me, not even touching his burger, his leg pressed firmly against mine under the table.
    "What?" I ask.
    "You're just so—"
    "Clumsy, yes, I know," I finish the sentence for him, splashing the table top with water as I deposit my glass onto it, as though to prove my point.  
    "I was gonna say substantial," he says and smiles.
    "What does that mean? Are you calling me fat?" I ask.  
    "No, Gail," he says, still grinning at me. "You're just so real and so fresh. And everything you're thinking is written right across your face, but I could probably never figure you out, not in a million years. I really like that."
    "You just think that because I'm so unstable." I never could take a compliment of any sort to save my life.
    I eat a spoonful of my soup, wishing I'd stayed quiet, and let him speak.
    He takes a bite of his burger and for awhile we just eat, watching each other.
    "You do like me though, right?" I ask like I'm twelve.
    He snorts. "Isn't that obvious?"
    "But why?" It suddenly makes no sense to me that he should. Or maybe I just want him to reassure me.  
    He shrugs like he doesn't know and takes another bite of his burger, chewing slowly. I know he knows, he's just teasing me.
    "Well?" I ask.
    "For one thing, you're really beautiful, but it's like you don't even know it," he continues. "And you're so unfake you can't even be fake when you're trying to be."
    "Did you think I was beautiful the first time you saw me, by the pool?" I ask.  
    "No," he says, and I gasp, heat rising in my cheeks.  
    He laughs. "I saw you a few days before for the first time, and I thought you were like totally hot. You didn't notice me though, probably because I was, you know, just the help."
    I breathe out sharply, slumping back in my chair. "Why didn't you want me then, after I did notice you?"
    He leans forward and takes my hand. "I told you already, it just didn't seem like something you would normally do. And you seemed on the verge of losing it."
    I wrap my other hand over his and squeeze. "I was. Sometimes I think I still might be."
    He's studying me with those magnetic eyes, like he can see right into me, right into my soul.  
    "That's another thing about you," he says. "You just make me want to protect you and keep you safe. I've never felt anything that strong for a girl before. At least not one I wanted to fuck."
    He grins but tears are spilling from my eyes.