The evening progressed and, to his dismay, the opportunity to interact with her was quickly slipping away. He’d be waiting there forever if he relied on her to initiate a conversation. “So, Liz, I drove by the shop earlier. The place looks like it’s doing well.”
Just as he suspected, she was too polite to ignore a comment made specifically to her. “It is, thanks.” Then, after a brief pause, “What brought you by?”
Suddenly, Alex hesitated to talk about finding and following the guy from his father’s house. The ugly topic of drugs didn’t fit into polite dinner talk. Besides, until he could better assess how Liz might be involved, it would be best to play his cards close to his chest. He’d already bungled one conversation tonight, and he didn’t want to alienate her again so quickly. “The starter on my truck is going out and I thought I’d see if you could fix it.”
“Oh, that’s an easy fix.” Paul chimed in. “Liz here has been doing that since she was fifteen.”
Liz’s cheeks blushed at the words of confidence, then nodded at Alex. “Sure, bring it over tomorrow. I’ll take a look at it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I remember how much you used to like working on cars back in high school. It’s nice to see you’re still doing it.”
She gave him a wry look. “Yup, I’m still a good ol’ grease monkey. Never used to hear the end of it back then. Now I service most of their cars in my shop, and laugh all the way to the bank.”
Alex cringed a little at the memory. “Most of us have managed to grow up since then and can appreciate good work.”
The look of surprise that crossed Liz’s face had Alex wishing he could go back and kick his younger self’s ass.
A couple of hours later, Alex had a grin on his face as he walked out to his car. The rest of the evening had gone well. Discussions spanned the gamut from music and travel destinations to architecture. While his direct interactions with Liz were limited, he was attuned to her. He learned she liked jigsaw puzzles and spicy food, and noticed she preferred beer over wine.
Overall, spending the evening surrounded by good conversation and friends was exactly what he needed. Plus, it didn’t hurt that he’d been in the company of an intelligent, beautiful woman. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on a date. Maybe it was time to do something about that.
Liz called to him from the front steps. “I thought you said you drove a truck.”
Alex turned just in time to see her saunter towards the end of the driveway. This was definitely not the Eliza Harper he remembered from high school. No, this version was much more confident…and hot. He watched as she propped a hip up against the back of the Jeep sitting in the driveway before answering. “My truck is for work. This is for pleasure.”
“A 2014 Audi R8 is kind of impractical for Maine winters.” When he didn’t immediately respond, she added, “Although I like that you chose the royal blue as opposed to the typical red.”
“Glad you like it,” Alex couldn’t prevent the dry tone that entered his voice.
“Well, it’s a little newer than I like my cars, but not bad.”
Alex barked with laughter. “Not bad, huh?”
She crossed her arms and shot him a cocky grin. “430 horsepower, 0-60 in 4 seconds…”
“And a top speed of 168 miles per hour,” he said, finishing her list of statistics. Leaning up against his car, he mirrored her stance from across the street. Who knew it could be so sexy to hear someone rattle off car specs? Impulsively, he asked, “You wanna go for a ride?”
A shadow of doubt crossed her face before she straightened and made her way to her car door. “Nah, I’ve gotta get going. Early day tomorrow.”
“Oh. Okay, then. Well, I’ll stop by in the afternoon.”
“What?” She turned to him. “Right, your starter. Yeah, sounds good.” She opened her door.
With that, he watched her get in. His eyes followed her taillights all the way down the road until they turned at the intersection. Well, she didn’t bite his head off or ignore him, so at least there was that.
About The Author
Satin Russell was a financial advisor for many years up until she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer back in April 2013.
It took her a full year of saving and planning before she was able to commit to her goal full-time. Secret Hunger is her debut novel and was published in April 2015. She looks forward to writing many more.
Satin lives in Massachusetts with her husband. Other than writing, she loves reading, supporting fellow authors (especially self-published ones,) traveling, and photography. She’s also partial to a good whiskey every now and then.
Satin loves to hear from her readers. You can visit her website at www.satinrussell.com or email her at [email protected].
If you liked this book, please consider leaving a review and supporting Satin as a new author.
Thank you!
Copyright © April 2015 by Satin Russell.
Visit Satin at www.satinrussell.com
Or Email: [email protected]
Edited by Debbie Robbins
Cover and formatting: www.damonza.com
First Kindle Edition: April 2015
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproductions or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Secret Hunger (The Harper Sisters) Page 38
