"You can sit if you want," she said. "I promise my crazy isn't contagious." She chuckled, sensing my hesitation.
I laughed and walked over to her, but didn’t sit down. "So, I haven't seen you around?"
It sounded like a question, so I shook my head. "I don’t come here often. I mean, my brother works here. I'm picking him up. His car is getting fixed." I was babbling and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Her brown eyes narrowed. "Who's your brother?" she asked, suspiciously.
"Alex?" I said. My voice raised slightly.
"Not so bad. He is one of the tolerable ones," she said dryly, brushing her long, curly hair away from her face. “Anyway, I should have guessed. You have the same British accent, though yours is much stronger.”
I chuckled. "Nice to know he's not a total ass," I joked. "He’s been over here a few years longer than me. So, back to your voice. Do you sing?"
She blushed. "Does in the shower count?"
My eyes lingered over her body, my mind going exactly where it shouldn't. She raised an eyebrow at me and tilted her head, as if she were reading my thoughts.
"Your voice is beautiful," I replied, getting the conversation back on track. "Have you thought about singing professionally?”
She shook her head and made a face. "God, no. I love singing, but I'm not much for attention. I hate having the spotlight on me. So much so that when I was born, I tried to crawl back inside."
I laughed, enjoying her offbeat humor.
"I write songs, though. I like to have original material when I perform in the shower." Her lips curved back up into that sexy grin, and it took me a moment to realize she was fucking with me.
Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. This time, I didn't even fight the image of her standing under a stream of hot water as it ran down her body. I made a beeline for the chair to hide my erection. She watched, amused.
"Everything okay there, tiger?" she teased. The way she looked at me made me feel naked. And vulnerable. I hated feeling vulnerable.
"Fine." I nodded curtly. "So what brings you here?" I groaned inwardly. What the fuck? As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. That was up there with asking an overweight woman when the baby was due. Not that I’ve ever been that stupid. Way to make her feel uncomfortable, Jack. Her whole demeanor changed.
"The usual rich kid syndrome. Addicted to pills, alcohol and sex." She shrugged. Was she toying with me again? I couldn’t tell. Her expression was serious, but there was a glint of humor in her eyes.
“Sounds like you liked to party,” I smirked, shaking my head. She sounded like me when I was younger—well, minus the pills. “And a place like this actually fixes you?”
“Not really. But it’s not my money I’m wasting. If I could, I’d be out of here in a second.” She blushed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. The last thing you want is all my problems.”
“Its fine,” I assured her.
Listening to others go on about their issues? Not my strongest trait. But this girl, I could listen to all day. She could read me the phone book and I’d sit there, mesmerized.
“So, what would you be doing right now if you weren’t in here?”
She thought for a moment, a smile creeping across her lips. “Eating tacos,” she said definitively.
My mouth dropped open in shock as I choked back a laugh. Did she just admit she would be eating pussy? I was liking this girl more and more. Her hand flew to her mouth.
“No! That wasn’t a euphemism for…that.” She shook her head, color spreading rapidly across her cheeks. “There is a food van over on Fifth that have the most incredible tacos. That’s where I’d be right now.”
“The first thing that pops into your head and its street food?” I laughed. I’d been expecting something deeper than that.
“Yeah? Well, what would you be doing if you weren’t taxying your brother around?” she asked, her eyebrow arched.
“I’d be working. But if I wasn’t working I’d be fiddling with my guitar.” She looked impressed.
“I never learned an instrument. I love to sing, but I’m otherwise completely musically challenged,” she admitted. “No, that’s not true. I played the recorder when I was ten. I was so bad at it that one day my father grabbed it off me and snapped it in half. I was crushed.”
I began to laugh, earning myself a glare through those pretty brown eyes. “I’m sorry,” I said, chuckling, “but, fuck, you must have sucked.”