Read Online Someone Like You by Andrea Carmen - Free Book Online Page B

laughed.
“I just heard you swear,” she grinned.
“Well, you’re inching closer to my heart, Alex.”
Alex smiled a little, feeling her ears go red.
“You’re such a blusher.”
“It’s a defense mechanism.”
“A cute defense mechanism.”
A wind picked up and she shivered. The leaves on the trees fell like slow orange and yellow snowflakes around them.
“Cold?” he asked her and he took off his coat and placed it over her shoulders.
“Thanks. You sure you won’t need it?”
“Still have a vest on,” he said with a smile. “I feel like eating Italian. Wanna go?”
“It’s barely four in the afternoon.”
“Think of it as a really early dinner. What do you feel like having?”
“Aglio Olio. What about you?”
“I feel like having….you. Ha, I’m kidding,” he smirked, “Marinara. And fresh lemon juice. Shall we?” he held out an arm.
She took it.
“I like this business date,” he joked. “Feels like a real date.”
“I haven’t been on a date for a long time, business or personal,” she said. “So it’s pretty fun.”
Suddenly, thunder cracked overhead and the rain poured over Manhattan without further warning.
“Shit,” Lucas exclaimed. “All right, my apartment’s closest. Wanna make a run for it?”
Alex nodded and together they ran through puddles, wet grass and other people also trying to find shelter from the storm. The rain soaked into his sneakers and hers, into their autumn wear—they were both practically drenched by the time they got to the Stanhope Building.
He lives here? She thought, amazed.
She was shaking by now, her lips a little blue.
“Jesus, look at you. You look like a sewer rat,” he joked.
“Well, you’re not exactly looking GQ yourself,” she laughed.
They got into the building; the floor was glistening with water dripping from their clothes and hair. He quickly pressed the elevator button. As soon as they reached his apartment, he quickly gave her a towel and directed her to a guest bathroom. It was larger than her studio, and tastefully decorated in pastel colors.
“Everything you need’s here,” he said.
“Except clothes.”
“I have some of my high school stuff left, I think. I’ll lay it out for you. Man, it is cold. Excuse me.” He left shaking. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and got into the steamy shower.
Now, that felt better. As soon as she finished, she saw a pair of striped pajamas neatly folded on a chair. She smiled. It was still two sizes too big for her. She heard a knock on the door.
“Hey, you done?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Let’s launder that up. I guess we’ll have to order take out now. Or we can cook if you aren’t too hungry.”
“Still feel like having pasta?” she grinned.
He laughed, seeing her in his high school pajamas. “Not bad, Miss Forbes. Could make for a lingerie model.”
“Shut up,” she said, playfully punching his arm.
They walked into the kitchen.
“Nice…” she said.
“My mom’s favorite place, mine too.”
Alex saw black and white photos hanging on a wall. “Is this you?” she smiled, seeing a photo of a little boy missing a tooth, smiling beside his mother on a yacht. “Your mom’s pretty. You look like your mom.”
“Pretty? That won’t do my reputation good,” he said. “But yeah, people say I look like my mom. I think that’s why my father doesn’t talk to me much.”
“Why?”
“He misses my mom, I guess. He was different before. I only remember a little, but he used to laugh more, genuinely. We barely talk these days, except for business. My older brother feels the same. We’re kinda close. We call each other ‘asshole’.”
They both laughed at the same time.  He took out two glasses and filled it with filtered water. “Here, not too cold, don’t want you turning blue even more.”
“Thanks. You have a lot of family photos.”
“Only old ones. Not many new ones. My mom loved taking photos and being photographed. Charles- I mean, my dad- he left these photos