The Promise of Paradise by Allie Boniface

Author:Allie Boniface
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-02-11T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Ash tied the last bag of garbage and set it near the door. “There. Done.”

The clock read after two in the morning. She felt as though she’d been run over by fatigue, but at least the place was clean. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up in an apartment that reeked of stale beer or find a half-naked couple lounging on her living room floor.

Frank and his wife had been the last to leave, about a half-hour ago. She could hear Jen fussing in the bathroom, and she guessed Eddie was somewhere downstairs, hauling boxes of empties onto the porch.

She sank onto the loveseat and let it cradle her. She’d switched shifts with one of the other waitresses at the restaurant, so at least she didn’t have to work until the following day. She stretched, and a yawn split her mouth wide. “Think I’ll sleep ‘til about noon,” she said aloud. “Maybe even later.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” The familiar voice buzzed through her, and she opened her eyes again. She hadn’t heard him come in, but there Eddie stood in the doorway, smiling at her. Her heart jumped a little, sending shots of adrenaline into all the wrong places. She’d managed to avoid being alone with him for most of the night, not trusting the tingling in her hands and toes after their dance. But now it sounded like Jen had made her way into the spare bedroom, and nothing stood between Ash and Eddie but a few feet of hardwood.

“Thanks for taking everything downstairs.”

“No problem.” He sat on the arm of the loveseat. “You need anything else?”

She pretended not to hear the double meaning in his words. Instead, she lifted a hand toward the roof. “Still have to take down the tables and chairs out there. But I guess that can wait until tomorrow.”

“I’ll do it. Only take a few minutes.”

“No, Eddie, really. It can wait.”

But he’d already crossed the room and crawled through the window. Ash sighed and followed. She’d much rather wait until she had about ten or twelve hours of sleep, but if he was going to tackle the last of the cleanup, she couldn’t very well sit there and watch him.

By the time she made it outside, he’d already collapsed most of the chairs and folded them into stacks of three and four. Two tables still stood, and as Eddie yanked on the legs of one, she found herself watching the way his shirt pulled across his back, the way his hair fell into his eyes, the way his arms flexed and deft hands put things back where they belonged.

Ash made herself look away. Struggling with a few of the chairs, she pulled them toward the window. But the effort exhausted her, and after a minute she leaned against the side of the house to catch her breath.

“You okay?” Eddie glanced over his shoulder.

“Yeah. Just resting.” She reached for another chair, but this one sprung open when she touched it, and the next thing she knew, it had pinched her finger in its hinge.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.