The Phantom Diaries Read Online Free PDF Page B

his shoulders.
    “A cast member who really wants this show to go on and who believes I’m the one to pull the lead off.”
    Chace took a big gulp of cola and turned away, the tousle of pale curls almost obscuring his face. His eyes narrowed and while he seemed to want to blame the squint on the sun, something else seemed to be going on behind his pale blue eyes. His brow was lightly furrowed and his thoughts seemed all too distant.
    “Do you think I can’t do it?”
    His face instantly lit up as he turned and flashed me a warm grin. “I have no doubt you can do it. And you’ll be beautiful as you do. New York will fall in love with Annette Binoche.”
    I giggled and felt like a twelve year old. I loved how he made me feel when he smiled like that. Alive and young and happy. Every time he smiled, I longed to lean into him to kiss his soft lips. I was surprised and at times dismayed to see his lack of physical attraction to me. Though he had held my hand one night as we’d made our way through a crowd, he’d yet to kiss me goodnight.
    The sudden need to think of something other than his lips left me saying the only thing that came to mind. “I wouldn’t have thought a musician could be such a great cook.” The light lunch he’d packed, complete with chicken sandwiches, potato salad and cupcakes, was delicious and I was soon feeling fat and full.
    He busied himself putting everything away. “Being on your own tends to push you to learn to do a lot for yourself.”
    “Here,” I said, reaching for the basket. “I’ll take that.” My fingers brushed against his, but the touch seemed to have little effect on him, unlike me who almost stopped breathing.
    In the distance we heard the first notes of music and as we approached the crowd, I noticed the slowed pace Chace adopted.
    “How ‘bout we hang back here? I’m not really into crowds.”
    “I was kinda hoping you’d say that. I’m not much for crowds, either. Besides, the music is loud enough we’ll have no problem hearing it from here.”
    We sat back, leaning against the coarse bark of a tree trunk. The music was great, the crowd lively and the atmosphere peaceful. But as evening settled, the stage lights came on and the sun went down. The darkening sky twinkled with only a few faint and distant stars, and brought about considerably cooler air. Despite a good sweater and my leather coat, the temperature was soon uncomfortable.
    The temptation to move closer to Chace was controlled only by my desire to avoid turning the uncomfortable situation into a tense one. He was a good friend and I wanted to keep it that way. If he had no romantic interest in me, I didn’t want him to become aware of the interest I had in him. I found him hopelessly endearing and charming, but I didn’t want to ruin the friendship we’d already built in such a short period of time.
    But just as that thought crossed my mind, I felt the warmth of his fingers at the nape of my neck. My breathing stopped and every ounce of me was concentrated on those few square inches of skin.
    “You must be getting cold.”
    I barely recognized the croak of his voice that emerged.
    “Just a bit,” I lied. My head involuntarily tilted back to his touch and I caught myself just in time to halt a contented sigh. “The show is just about over. I should be able to tough if out.”
    His fingers continued to play at my nape until we were ready to leave, and while I was disappointed he didn’t move closer, I was charmed by the gentleman he displayed.
    “It’s cool doing things with you,” he said as we turned the corner to where I lived. “All the time I spent with adults all my life I’d never realized how I missed out on hanging around with kids my age.”
    “I’ll ignore how you just called me a kid and simply say, thank you.”
    He chuckled and playfully leaned his shoulder into mine.
    “Judy’s pretty much our age. Don’t you hang out with her?” Although the question had started out