Read Online Untainted: (Crime Romance: The Photographer Trilogy #3) by Sarah Robinson - Free Book Online

have continued to stay frozen in their silent trance, if it wasn’t for the barista coughing to interrupt them as he handed Kate her drink.
    “Thanks, Jimmy.” Kate handed him some change to pay for the two coffees.
    Derrick grinned at the young man, amused that he was allowing a woman to pay for his coffee. Well, more like insisting on it. He had never let a woman pay before, it felt strange.
    “Sure, Miss Kate, it’s no problem. Anytime.” The barista said, beaming at her.
    She turned around to get out of line, and Derrick was excited to see that she had paused and slowed to give him a chance to catch up to her.
    “Hey, buddy, the coffee?” Derrick reminded the barista, who was clearly annoyed as he turned his gaze from Kate to Derrick, then handed him his coffee.
    “Here you go, sir. One brewed coffee, three creams, two sugar.” He said to Derrick, dripping with bitterness.
    “Uh, actually, that was supposed to be two creams, one sugar…” Derrick began to correct him until he saw the young boy giving him a look that could kill.
    He decided it wasn’t worth the argument, he would rather spend his time getting to know Kate.
    “You know what, that’s fine, I like it better this way, anyway.  Good call.” Derrick grinned and took a big chug of his coffee to prove the poin t. 
    He turned away from the counter to follow Kate who had started laughing watching their interaction.
    “I don’t think he’s my number one fan.” Derrick told her as he followed her to the door, grinning.
    “I think you’re right about that.  How’s the coffee?” Kate asked him, while he hurried to step around her so that he could hold the door open for her as they left.
    “Sweet. Really sweet.” Derrick twisted his face in disgust which made Kate laugh. 
    “Well, Kate, which way are you heading?” He gazed into her brown eyes, hoping that she would continue to entertain his presence.
    “Up toward Michigan Ave.  I work a few blocks up.  Which way are you heading?” She seemed shy as she asked, a characteristic he found unbelievably charming from this strong woman he had only just met.
    “The exact opposite direction.  This is perfect, now I can walk you to work!”  He started toward Michigan Ave, winking at her as he passed her and she turned to keep her eyes on him.
    She looked confused and dropped one hip, placing her hand on the other with a bit of attitude.
    “If you work in the exact opposite direction, then how is that perfect? You’re going seriously out of your way.” She looked strangely at him, but he just shrugged and kept walking causing her to jog to catch up to him.
    “Because now I can talk to you the whole way there, and think about you the whole way back.” He knew he sounded like the worst Hallmark card in history, but something about Kate made him mean it.
    He genuinely wanted to be late to work just so he could spend the time walking her, and he knew without a doubt that he would be thinking of her sexy smile and button nose the entire way back.
    “So, what do you do, Miss Jackson?”
    “It’s really boring. You don’t even want to know.  What do you do?” she waived her hand nonchalantly as she switched topics.
    “I just finished law school and started at a small firm a few blocks south of here with some law school buddies of mine.  If you ever need a lawyer, you know who to call. But I still want to know what you do, Miss Evasive.”  She blushed as he reverted her back to his original question.
    “Well, it’s nothing as impressive as a lawyer, but I sell the furniture you sit on most likely.”  He burst out laughing at her reply, loving the feisty wit he was coming to expect from her . 
    “Out of all the things, I really wasn’t expecting you to say that.  Good way to phrase it.  Well, office furniture is an important job, I couldn’t do my job without a comfy chair.  Is it like an interior design job?” 
    “I wish! It’s like a pay-the-bills job.  I graduated