Read Online Transparency by Jeanne Harrell - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t get much work done.”
    “…Enough.”
    She kissed him lightly. “Go on up and change. Everything’s about ready here.”
    Instead, Bryce dipped his hungry lips to hers for another stomach-churning kiss. Beth’s head was spinning when they broke for air.
    “ Whew …Go…” She pushed against his chest to make him go. He just dug in and hugged her more tightly to him. She sensed something was up.
    “Are you all right?” she whispered in his ear. Then she felt some tension leave his body.
    “I’m good. Let me go change.” He finally let her go with a grin and went upstairs.
    Beth frowned as she prepared plates of spaghetti for them and set the plates on the kitchen table. Something was definitely the matter – She could feel the stress in his body. There was no way he could hide it from her, but he also didn’t want to talk about it right now. And that was okay… She’d wait until he was ready.
    With the French bread sliced and on the table, Beth was pouring a nice red wine for them when he came back downstairs. She took one look at him and started laughing. Bryce took the wine bottle out of her hands before she spilled it.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “…You…” She finally stopped laughing, but continued to smile broadly at him.
    He looked down at his clothes. “…Don’t like my clothes?”
    “It’s either Marlon Brando or James Dean night.” He was wearing hip-hugging worn jeans and a tight, white tee shirt. “All you need now is the leather jacket…”
    “I have one.”
    “Of course, you do.”
    “… No, it’s the same one from high school.”
    Her eyes widened. “I want to see it after dinner.”
    “It’s a date…”
    Beth took off the apron as they sat down at the table.
    “And what’s with the apron?” He smirked. “…Didn’t know that was standard musician’s costume.”
    “Ha ha, Mr. Barron. I didn’t want sauce on my blouse. I tend to do that when I’m cooking.”
    They raised glasses together, took sips and began eating in companionable silence. It felt good to just sit still, enjoying each other’s company without needing to speak. Finally, Bryce swallowed and wiped his mouth with the napkin.
    “This is good, honey. Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    He glanced into the dining room. “You know, there’s another room we could eat in instead of the kitchen.”
    Beth scrunched up her nose. “It’s too big and fancy. Isn’t it for entertaining mostly?”
    He shook his head. “I wouldn’t know… Never ate in it.”
    She blinked in surprise. “You’ve never eaten in your own dining room?”
    “Nope. We didn’t cook much or eat in at all.”
    “Wow… What a waste of a good kitchen.”
    He shrugged. Bryce swallowed the bite he was chewing and wiped his mouth again.
    “So what has the Quartet decided to do?” She glanced over at him. “Didn’t you tell me that you all were meeting to discuss your future?”
    “Yes, we did.”
    “Any decisions made?” He ate another bite of spaghetti.
    “…Actually, yes. Tomorrow is our last performance here in Las Vegas and then we’re taking a few months off. Everyone needs a break.”
    “And after that?”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “We’ll have to meet again probably…”
    Bryce thought about that for a minute. The conversation was heading towards the topic of San Francisco and he wasn’t quite ready to talk about that yet.
    “How would you like to go for a ride on the bike tonight?”
    She looked over at him. His face was open, contemplative and she guessed he was tossing something around in his mind. Beth grinned.
    “I’d love to…”
    He beamed. “Good. There’s a place on the Strip I’d like to take you to.”
    Beth almost laughed out loud. “What kind of place?” She passed him the bread.
    “I see that smirk so you’ve probably guessed.”
    “Yes?” He took a slice of bread and started to butter it.
    “It’s a dive basically, but they’ve got local bands that play some fabulous