Read Online THIEF: Part 4 by Kimberly Malone - Free Book Online Page A

I could do that.”
                  I sigh, staring at the cocktail table we’re sharing.The reception’s thinned out a little, but the dance floor is still packed with bodies.“It is scary,” I confess, staring into the crowd.So many strangers, people I’ve never met and probably won’t see again.My own father’s a stranger; he could be here, or on a sidewalk walking past me, in a store—and I'd never know it.
                  “Do you know anything about him?”
                  “Just his name.And where he works in Tennessee.”
                  She thinks about this for a second.“Better than nothing, right?I mean, it's just a little, but it could be everything you need.”
                  I give a small smile.“Right.”
                  “Alex is coming with you, too… That’s so sweet.”She tilts her head, and I know she means it.“Not to mention romantic, just deciding on a whim to pick up and go.”
                  “Well, that’s Alex’s whole lifestyle, so he’s used to it.And I think it’ll do me good.”
                  “You guys are great together.”
                  I point to Ned, who’s talking to Alex about his semester abroad in London.“You guys are pretty great yourselves.”
                  Fiona nods, then laughs.“Man, who would’ve thought we’d be here right now, you know?I mean, not here, literally—here with boyfriends who don’t suck, I mean.”
                  I laugh too, remembering the night we met.Like so much else, it feels like it was years ago, when it fact it’s only been a couple months.
                  “Ladies!” Ned calls out, as he and Alex jog over.“It’s almost midnight!”
                  Over the deejay platform, a big screen monitor showing the countdown in New York gets brighter.The music fades to silence, promptly replaced by the show’s sound.
                  The clock is at twenty seconds.Fiona waves and winks at me as Ned takes her hand, leading her away.
                  “May I?” Alex asks, extending his hand.I take it and follow him to the edge of the ballroom, where the crowd isn’t so dense, and lean my back against the front of his body.He loops his arms around me, my hands overtop his.The clock ticks lower and lower, and suddenly a second seems so much longer to me than it really is.
                  “Ten…nine…eight…”The crowd chants as one, our voices rising to the high ceilings.At their couple’s table at the front of the room, Aunt Jane and Killian already have a couple Jane-tinis in hand, their arms intertwined, ready and waiting.
                  “…seven…six…five…four…”Alex tightens his hold, and I start to spin and face him.Our shouts fade to whispers, counting the numbers to each other, instead of the room.
                  “Three,” we whisper, as his face moves to meet mine.“Two.”I tilt my head, our lips almost touching, and, just before the year begins, we close the distance and kiss, the word “one” still on our tongues.
                  The room erupts into cheers and screaming around us.I hear champagne popping, noisemakers trumpeting.Some of the rowdier guests pound the tables.It’s quite the show, exactly what my aunt wanted, but I tune it out and focus all of my attention on Alex.I wind my fingers into his hair, scratching his scalp just a little, the way I did earlier in our private getaway.He puts one hand on my shoulders, the other at the small of my back, and pulls me closer.
                  “Happy new year, Erin,” he says afterwards, smiling.“I promise—this one will be a lot better.I'll make it better.”
                  “Happy new year, Alex.”I kiss him again, then slide into a hug.In some ways, it’s more intimate