Naked Read Online Free PDF Page A

just assume we’re together…we could pretend to be together.”
    “But we’re not,” she clarified.
    “Oh, no, of course not.” He shook his head. “We’re totally not.”
    She glanced at him, and was surprised to see he was looking at her. His eyes were intense, and one side of his mouth was pulled up into playful grin, almost like he was daring her to say yes.
    “I wouldn’t mind pretending,” she said, mostly because she knew he wasn’t expecting her to. “But you have to promise not to do anything too crazy.”
    “Oh, you can trust me,” he said. “I’m very trustworthy.” He moved a little closer, so that their arms were touching. Shivers ran up Caelyn’s arms, and goose bumps broke out on her skin.
    She liked the way it felt, being close to him.
    But a second later, she found herself stepping away.
    “Don’t worry,” Elijah said, all traces of playfulness gone from his voice. “I would never do anything to hurt you.” And then he reached his hand out—it didn’t have far to go—and took her hand in his. “But we can do this, right?”
    An imperceptible shiver ran through her as he touched her. His hand felt strong and kind of soft. Butterflies were suddenly dancing in her belly, but she took a deep breath and let it out. “That’s fine,” she told him.
    “Good,” he said, grinning. “Because otherwise you’re not leaving me with much.”
    “Okay,” she said. “What now?”
    “Now,” he said, “we eat.” He was still holding her hand.
    They went to Burger King and grabbed a few breakfast sandwiches and coffee.
    Caelyn was fully prepared to pay for herself, but Elijah stopped her. “No way,” he said.
    “I got it. No way I’m letting my girl pay.”
    She almost said, But I’m not your girl .
    Except she didn’t want to ruin the fun they were having pretending that she was his girl. Of course, she didn’t feel right letting him pay. She decided that she would repay him once they were back in the car and resuming their “real” roles again.
    What are our real roles, though? Are we friends? Acquaintances? What?
    Again, there was no good answer to be had.
    Elijah pulled out an enormous billfold to pay for the meal. He peeled a twenty off the top and handed it to the cashier.
    Caelyn’s eyes widened as she stared at the cash in his hand. He glanced at her as he put his money back in his pocket again. “Something wrong, babe ?” he grinned.
    “No. It’s just—most people usually keep that amount of money in the bank…or a safe,” she said.
    “I’m not most people.”
    “I’m starting to figure that out.”
    They got their breakfast on a tray, which Elijah picked up. “Where do you want to sit?” he asked her.
    She gestured to a small table near a window. “How about over there?”
    They walked to the table and then sat down together. Caelyn suddenly realized she was ravenous.
    She unwrapped a greasy egg and bacon sandwich and started to eat, barely stopping to breathe. She looked up to find Elijah watching her with an amused expression.
    “When was the last time you ate?” he asked.
    She wiped her mouth with a napkin and swallowed. “I had a few bites of pizza yesterday,” she said. The thought made her lose her appetite, and she put the sandwich down, pushing it away from her as if it were now infected by the memories.
    The greasy pizza sitting on the table.
    Jayson laughing.
    And then, the screaming.
    “Hey, hey—are you okay?” Elijah said. Now he was somewhat alarmed.
    She wasn’t sure how long she’d been caught in the nightmare of what had happened to her. It was almost as though she’d blanked out—but now she was swimming back to awareness again. Her entire body was tense, like a coil of wire.
    “I’m all right,” she whispered.
    “Come on, let’s take this stuff to go,” he said, grabbing the food and putting it in a paper bag, picking up the two cups of coffee.
    Caelyn nodded, stood up and the two of them walked out