Take This Man Read Online Free PDF

didn’t consider her his
girlfriend.
    There
was nothing wrong with Kim. She was nice looking, with a slim shape and long brown
hair. She had a cute freckled face, and a funny little space between her front
teeth that showed every time she smiled.
    Of
course he’d run into her today, when his mind was consumed with Elyse. Yeah, he
was batting a thousand for sure.
    “Hi,
uh, hey…what’re you doing here?” His face got hot as soon as the words were out
of his mouth. Duh .
    Kim
grinned at the too obvious question. “Same thing you are. Grabbing some lunch
before my shift.”
    “Uh,
yeah. The coffeehouse, right?” At least, he thought that was her latest gig. She
never kept a job for long, due to boredom, or an inability to put up with what
she referred to as “petty shit.”
    “Yeah.
Listen, you want me to grab some take-out before I come by tonight? I’ll bring
Chinese.”
    Adam
was caught short. “Huh?” Suddenly he remembered they’d talked about her to
coming to his place today after work. These dates usually involved a few beers,
maybe something to eat, and an hour or so in bed before Kim headed home.
    Shit.
He wasn’t up for it tonight.
    “Excuse
me…” Someone jostled past him. The shop was filling up with lunchtime customers
and was getting crowded.
    He
edged away from the growing line of people, which pushed him closer to Kim. “Ah,
you know…let’s do it another time…” Adam turned his gaze on the door, wishing
he could dematerialize and escape Kim’s probing stare.
    “What?
Why?” Of course she’d want an explanation. Kim wasn’t the kind to meekly let
the matter drop.
    “It’s
just, uh, tonight’s not good…”
    Kim
frowned at him, and he knew she knew he was bullshitting her. A few of
the people in line looked at them curiously. He exhaled deeply and made a
decision. “Look, we need to talk. Get your sandwich and meet me in my truck,
all right? I’m parked right out front.”
    She
didn’t bother with lunch, but followed him directly out to the sidewalk.
    “What
is it?” she demanded.
    Adam
balked for a moment, taken aback by how pale her face was. “Let’s get in the
truck.” They needed some privacy.
    She
shook her head, oblivious to the passersby on the street. She looked almost
scared. But no, that couldn’t be. “No. I’m not getting in the truck. Don’t fuck
with me. Just tell me what it is.”
    What
he said next surprised the both of them. “I think we should take a break.”
    “A
break?” She looked like he’d sucker-punched her.
    “Yeah.
I just—” Shit. He was fucking this up. He didn’t want to hurt Kim, but he knew
from the dumbfounded look on her face he was doing exactly that.
    Her
look of surprise vanished and her mouth twisted with contempt. “Get over
yourself, Vostek. Break from what ? From screwing? ‘Cause that’s
basically all we do together, isn’t it? Or do we actually have a relationship that I’m not aware of?”
    Adam
had nothing to say. He knew his announcement was completely out of the blue,
and he suddenly realized how much he had taken Kim for granted. Maybe she
wanted more with him than hanging out and getting busy.
    Call
him clueless. Yeah, he was an asshole.
    But
he’d made the right decision. If he slept with Kim tonight, he’d be imagining
she was Elyse. And she deserved better.
    Hell,
maybe he did, too.
    Adam
suddenly felt as though the earth shifted under his feet. In cooling things
with Kim, he recognized he was making another decision. He didn’t want to be
with anyone but Elyse .
    Kim’s
fists were planted on her hips. “And I guess I’m supposed to wait by the phone
for you to call when you decide the break is over. Dream on .”
    She
turned away, ready to storm off, then whirled back at him in a fury. “You’re a
real chickenshit, aren’t you Vostek?”
    He
stood there like a lunk while she raged at him, knowing he deserved it, knowing
there was no way to defend himself.
    “You
want to be a lonely pathetic