Here With Me (Paloma's Edge) Read Online Free PDF Page B

night?” Jake asked with his arm draped around my shoulder the following morning. Beth was en route to campus.
    He let me go and I took the cup of coffee he’d made for me. “I got off the phone with Pete at two this morning.”
    “Why wasn’t his ass asleep?”
    I smirked. “My parent’s got him a cell phone and he was calling everyone. He was so excited. Most of his friend have cell phones…I hadn’t really talked to him in a while, so…”
    “Because of you, your mom had a hard time getting him out of bed this morning.”
    I rolled my eyes. “I won’t hear the end of it from her. Don’t remind me.” I let out a sigh. “When’d you get back on campus last night?”
    “Ten something.”
    I sipped some of my coffee and tossed him a sardonic look. “Or should I say when’d you get to your room after you were done hooking up in your car?”
    “I could be off by a half an hour. I thought we finished our business at the motel, but we had a quickie.”
    “Well, Hunter got an eyeful of your quickie.”
    “He told you that he saw me?” He sounded surprised.
    I gave him a nod.
    “It’s about time you two talked.” Jake had felt a lot differently about Hunter being Beth’s friend during the summer. In fact, he hadn’t wanted Beth to date Chase, either.  It was funny how one’s view could change in a short period of time.
    “I sassed him, and he was nice to me in spite of it.”
    Jake eyed me with interest. “Mariska, do you know that you just admitted that you were wrong?” Instead of saying anything, I took another slow swig of my coffee. Jake picked up his backpack from my chair and slung it over his shoulder. The corners of his expressive deep brown eyes crinkled.
     
    ***
     
    AS I CASHIERED UP front at La Caridad all morning, into the middle of the afternoon, I’d thought about some of the thoughts that I hadn’t told Jake. At one moment last night, when Hunter and I’d been together, his arm had brushed against mine. I associated the touch with the rough and slightly smooth texture of aged leather on my skin.
    “Here he is,” Blanca said and he greeted her with a genuine smile.
    I completed the last transaction and a waiter took my place. I went to the employer’s restroom to wash my hands after handling so much money.
    “Blanca told me you haven’t had lunch yet,” Hunter said after I came out of the bathroom and walked up front.
    “Yeah,” I said, trying not to make a face. “I am going to have it now.”
    He lifted his head to an empty table with two dishes on either side of it.
     
    Hunter
     
    “ OUR LUNCH IS COOLING off,” I told Mariska. Confused, she snapped her gaze to Blanca, who gestured us to eat. I led her to the table I’d sat at on Wednesday while I’d waited for the take out to be prepared.
    “Hunter…this is—”  
    “Shredded beef with rice and red beans, just how you eat it,” I interrupted her in Spanish and I sat down seconds after she had.  
    While gazing at the food, Mariska opened her purse and brought her arm over the table. Money was tucked on the side of my dish of steak and baked potatoes. I examined her face for any signs that she was trying to insult me, but I saw that she wasn’t. I covered the dollars with my hand and slid it underneath her plate.
    “Did you get me lunch?” A look of fear started to settle over her features, before she schooled her expression.
    “Mariska…” I exhaled her name and then cleared my throat. “Put your money back in your purse and let’s dig in before your lunch is over. I remember how it got in here the other day.”
    Even though Mariska grimaced, she took the money from underneath her plate and shoved it back in purse. “Why are you breaking bread with me?”
    I barked out a short dark laugh. “I thought Jill would be here, but Blanca said that you and she switched days. We might as well break bread.” Eyeing me cautiously, she placed the napkin on her lap. “It’d seem ridiculous for us to eat at