Read Online Wake Up Call by Victoria Ashley - Free Book Online Page B

head and pushed the door open with her foot. “Um…no. I got it.” She smiled and headed out the door.
          Jace watched as Stacy disappeared before turning back to face me. “Stacy only made $63.00. You must have something special." He grinned and then motioned for me to follow him to the break room. He bent down, picking up a wrinkled up food order, and tossed it into the trash. "You did a wonderful job. I had a lot of regulars tell me how much they liked you," he said, tone professional. “I am very impressed.”
          I felt my cheeks redden as I turned my head away in embarrassment. I reached out the hand with the money in it. "Here's some money for rent. I know that it's not much, but it's a start."
          Jace placed his hands on mine and pushed the money away, his hands lingered for a moment before he pulled them away. "Nope," he said. "I don't want any of that. You don't owe anything until next month. I already paid rent this month." He walked over and turned off the light switches. Then he pointed toward the door and waited for me to follow.
          I walked in silence not knowing how to thank him. All that my parents ever did was take from me. I wasn't use to someone giving. The feeling was...different.
          He walked in front of me, holding the door open for me as I followed behind him. He locked the door, checking it twice before turning around and smiling. “I am starving.” He threw his keys in his pocket and reached for his car keys. “What shall we eat today? It’s ladies choice. I would think hard about this because you might not get this opportunity again," he teased.
          I laughed softly as I followed him through the gravel and to his car. It was getting dark outside and the cool wind gave me the chills. “Well… let me think here. It sounds like a huge life decision,” I teased. “I haven’t eaten all day so I guess I should make it count.”
          Jace smiled and stopped in front of the car. “What is your favorite food? What do you like," he questioned. "I know nothing about you yet. All except for the fact that you like to sleep in your underwear," he grinned, obviously teasing me.
          I felt my face flush when remembering thinking that I saw him while going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It was dark and I couldn’t quite be sure if it was him or just my eyes playing tricks on me. Clearly, it wasn't just my eyes. I cleared my throat and jumped into the car. I waited for him to get in and shut the door. "Chicken," I mumbled, trying to change the subject. "I love chicken."
          He gave me a cocky grin and then shifted the car into drive. "Great choice. We'll stop at the video store, grab a movie and then pick up some fried chicken," he said confidently. "We'll just have a chill night and I can get to know my new roommate."
          I smiled at the thought of just having a normal night, with movies and food. Just two people hanging out. I’d never had a night with anyone that didn't involve sex, bars or dancing. I liked that idea.
           "Sounds good, but I get to pick the movie," I said playfully.
          "Okay, but nothing too girly. I'm a manly man," he said, nudging me in the side as we pulled into the video store.
          What he didn’t know about me yet was that I didn’t have a sensitive side. Girly love movies would do nothing for someone like me.
          After spending a good ten minutes searching for a movie, we ended up leaving the video store with an action movie. The man on the cover looked entertaining enough to catch my eye and really, I just wanted to get out of there. There were too many people watching us as if we were some kind of happy couple. It was creepy.
          After arriving back to Jace’s house we sat down at the kitchen table, dished out the chicken, and mashed potatoes and started eating.
           Jace looked over while taking a bite of his chicken and