Reclaim: A Recovered Innocence Novel Read Online Free PDF

her guesses are, but if she were going to share she already would’ve.
    She gives my notes another look. “What other questions do you have?”
    “I was wondering why her kid wasn’t in school. I mean, aren’t most four-year-olds in preschool or something?”
    “That’s a very privileged thing to say.”
    “What does
that
mean?”
    “It means that most immigrants don’t make enough to pay for preschool. They’re too busy trying to feed their kids.”
    “You’re twisting my words, making me sound like a racist.”
    “Which is exactly the kind of thing a racist says.”
    I shift toward her in my seat.
Is she serious?
“Are you serious? Is that what you assume about me from the what? Two hours we’ve known each other?”
    “No. I got it from the racist thing you just said.”
    “I was in no way being a racist. Ignorant of immigrant issues, yes. But not a racist.” Now I’m getting hot for a whole
other
reason. “You’ve got a chip on your shoulder the size of Texas, you know that? Don’t project your issues onto me. You don’t know anything about me.”
    “
My
issues?”
    “
Your
issues. Maybe you’re the racist here.”
    She jerks the wheel, changing lanes so suddenly I have to grip the door handle to keep from tipping over into her lap. We swerve across the three lanes to the shoulder where she brings the car to an abrupt stop, making my seatbelt tighten as I jerk forward then back in my seat.
    “What the hell was that?” I demand.
    “Where do you get off calling
me
a racist?”
    “Where do
you
get off calling
me
a racist?”
    She twists in her seat. Air puffs in and out between her lips as her chest rises and falls, making her breasts swell up and down. Her cheeks are red and her dark eyes narrow at me. Whoa is she hot.
    “Don’t say racist things if you don’t want to be called a racist,” she grinds out.
    “I’ll take my licks when I deserve them, but you’re way out of line here. I don’t know who screwed you over or how, but don’t take it out on me. It was an honest, if ignorant, question. We’re not going to get anywhere on this case if you turn on me every time I say something stupid. Because I can guarantee that I’m going to say
a lot
of stupid things by the time we’re done here.”
    Her lips part in surprise. A truck honks its horn at us as it passes. Several beats go by with us glaring at each other. We’re close enough that I can smell the sweet coffee drink on her breath and see myself in her dark, reflective eyes. There’s a lot going on behind them.
What is she thinking?
    I don’t have to wait long to find out.
    “You’re honest.” A corner of her lip tilts up. “I like that.”
    “Are we good now?”
    “Good enough.” She sits back in her seat and pulls the car back onto the freeway.
    I have no idea what just happened or why, but I think I passed some kind of test with her. Which is pretty dang ironic since I’ve never been very good at tests. Especially given by a woman I’m interested in.
    Hmm. Okay. I’m
interested
interested in her. Weird. I’m not sure I even
like
her. Especially after what just happened. She might be slightly insane. Which is probably
why
I’m attracted to her. I’ve been known to date women who are somewhat unstable. It’s a thing with me. Which is why I haven’t dated much lately.
    My last girlfriend showed up at my apartment and asked if her boyfriend could stay at my place while he visited her because she lived with her parents and they still thought she was a virgin. Yeah. That’s right. My girlfriend’s
boyfriend.
She stopped being my girlfriend the second I slammed my front door in their faces. Unbalanced. Unpredictable. Unsuitable. Unattainable. Unyielding. And all of the other
un
adjectives. The more
un-y
they are the more I seem to like them. Lila may as well be wearing a big giant UN on her forehead.
    Man she’s pretty, though.
    A short time later we pull up to the prison and park. Lila gets out of the car without