The Promise of Paradise - By Allie Boniface Page 0,8
first uncomfortable around him and then by turns so comfortable he could open them up, peel back the layers, and turn their hearts inside out. He liked making women ache for him. He was good at it.
“You have a boyfriend?” he asked as he followed her down the stairs. He figured he might as well negotiate his options from the start.
She shook her head, and waves of hair moved across her shoulder blades. He wanted to touch them, wind them around his fingers. He bet they smelled like some kind of floral shampoo.
“No.” Her answer was quiet in the stairwell. At the bottom she turned to look back at him, and he saw that the light had vanished from her eyes.
“Ah…mending a broken heart?” He backpedaled and changed his approach.
“Something like that.” As she opened the door, her shoulders sagged a little, and Eddie followed, wanting to reach out a hand and comfort her.
* * *
“Pepperoni or mushroom?” Eddie asked as he opened the boxes. Steam poured out and wound its way upward.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, Ash pulled the tops off two beer bottles. “Mushroom, please.” She took a long swallow. “I’m a vegetarian.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.”
“You really don’t eat meat?”
“I don’t eat anything that used to have a face. It’s just...I don't know. It makes me feel bad.”
“How long?”
“Since college.” She paused and sent a look straight through him. “Does it bother you?”
“Nah. Just never knew anyone like that before.” Eddie separated the cheese as he pulled slices apart, two for each of them. “Napkins?”
Ash looked around. “I had some. I think Jen put them somewhere. Oh…on top of the fridge.” She stood on tiptoes and reached for the unopened package. “What else do we need?”
“Nothing but a rooftop and some good conversation.”
“Okay.” She pulled open the window. “Here goes.” She lifted one leg up and over the sill and hopped out. “The view’s great out here.”
He grabbed the rest of the six-pack, handed her the plates and followed. Wow. She was right. He walked to the railing that ran along the perimeter and surveyed the block from end to end. The trees laced together overhead, and he could smell the scent of flowers somewhere close by. Contentment settled over Eddie. He leaned against the side of the house and reached for the pizza.
Opposite him, a few feet away, Ash sat with her plate on her lap. Her shorts grazed the tops of her thighs, and through the thin skin of a gray T-shirt, Eddie could see small breasts punctuated with perfectly round nipples. He argued with the part of him that wanted to lose himself in the view and stopped looking. Not going to do it, not now. She just broke up with her boyfriend. Give her a break.
“So you and Jen went to school in the city?”
Ash nodded.
“College?”
“I was in law school. She just finished med school. We were both looking for a roommate a couple of years ago. Rest is history.”
“You’re kidding.”
She smiled. “Nope.”
He took a long pull on his beer. “Excuse me for asking, but what the hell are you doing in Paradise?” Shit, he felt about two feet tall next to someone who’d just finished becoming a lawyer. And that blonde – med school? Really? Can't ever tell what's inside someone just by looking, he reminded himself. You should know that better than anyone.
She gazed across the street. “I needed a change of scenery.”
He laughed before he could help himself. “Well, you sure got one here. We’re only a hundred miles from Boston, but it’s a different world, in case you haven’t noticed. Half the people in Paradise have never even been to Boston.”
Ash’s chin twitched, and she looked defensive. “Well, it seemed as good on the map as any other place. I just wanted to get away for awhile.”
Eddie finished his slice and reached for another. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great town. Just don’t see many city girls here, that’s all.” He paused. “So you going back in the fall? Got a job waiting for you?”
She shrugged a sort of yes. “Couple of my siblings are attorneys.”
“Ah. Runs in the family?”
“I guess.” Her voice dropped.
Eddie rested one wrist on his knee, dangling his empty bottle. “I gotta say, you don’t sound very excited about it.”
She sighed. “Ever since I was a little girl, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do. College, law school, work my way up to partner by the time I turn thirty, and