Read Online Waterborn (The Emerald Series Book 1) by Kimberly James - Free Book Online

purse. As she dug for it, she fumbled the lipstick to the floor. It skidded under my sink.
    “Frak,” she said to herself in the mirror.
    I bent over and picked the lipstick off the floor, smiling when I handed it back to her. I must have looked a little creepy—and I had to admit, I kind of had a girl crush going—because when she took it out of my hand, her eyes narrowed at me.
    “What?” she asked.
    “You said frak.”
    She rolled her eyes and laughed at the ceiling. “Sorry. My dad is kind of a sci-fi geek.”
    “No, I understand completely,” I said to her reflection. “I’ve got one of those too.”
    “Yeah, we spent all last weekend watching the first season for the third time.”
    “Christmas break here.” I toweled off my hands as we continued to bond over Battlestar Galactica and geeky dads.
    “Are you here on vacation?”
    What gave me away? The pink tint on my skin? I had noticed a new scattering of freckles while looking in the mirror. It reminded me of strawberry ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. Why couldn’t I turn a nice golden brown like the girl in the mirror next to me? I looked like a dessert.
    “Sort of. We’re staying the whole summer. So, I don’t know. It feels semi-permanent.”
    “Where are you from?” She leaned close to the mirror and applied a layer of lipstick, smacking her lips together when she finished.
    “Kentucky?” Every time I said it, it sounded so wrong.
    “Wait, your last name’s not Harper, is it?” She looked up at me, eyebrows arched, a hint of excitement in her voice.
    “Yeah.” I dragged the word out to at least three syllables.
    “I think I met your dad the other day at my dad’s office. Patrick Harper?”
    “That’s him.”
    We gave ourselves one last look in the mirror before heading for the door. I held the door open for her then followed her out into the breezeway.
    “Cool.” She faced me and walked backward up the sidewalk. “Give me your number. Maybe we can hang sometime.”
    “Sounds good.” I recited my number and she immediately pushed send. I heard my phone ring from the recesses of my backpack.
    “Now you have mine. My name’s Erin, by the way.”
    “I’m Caris.”
    Girl handshakes were always so awkward.
    “Well, it was nice to meet you, Caris. Now I have to get back in there.“ She pointed to the entrance to the gift shop. “Ally’s probably wondering what happened to me.”
    I watched her go in and waved at her friend who stood behind a glass counter ringing up a customer.
    My bike was locked in the bike rack by the front entrance. As I dialed in the code, I noticed a black Range Rover parked in the parking spot closest to the building—black rims, shiny roof rack. Music pumped from inside the tinted windows. The driver’s side door opened and Visor Dude slid out into the bright afternoon sun. He wore a pair of dark shades, but I could imagine his eyes scanning right past me. Only they didn’t.
    “Hey.” He nodded at me and slid his glasses down his nose. “Don’t I know you?”
    “I don’t think so.” I pushed past him, but not before I got a look inside his car. Hanging from his rearview mirror was a long tail of golden hair.
    “You’re the girl from the other day.” He pointed his finger at me, which really bothered me for some reason. He really bothered me. “You know that was harmless fun. We’re all friends. There’s no hard feelings. Noah knew we were just messing around.”
    Noah. I wondered if Noah would say the same thing. And then I told myself I didn’t care. Whatever was going on between these guys was none of my business.
    “Whatever,” I said, hoping I sounded undeniably dismissive. As I pedaled away, there was a teeny tiny part of me that wanted to hang around and see what would happen when those two collided again. But then I thought, Who cares ? From what I’d seen, they pretty much deserved each other.

Eight

Noah
    “ D amn , Felix, would you put a plug in it.” I reached down