Free Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One by Trevion Burns Page A

imagining his cock in place of that drink. “You don’t want to have a seat inside?”
    Her eyes popped open , and she stood tall. “No, I should really get down to the school.  I wanted to get there early today to look in on a meeting that the principal is having.  She promised she would bring up the funding for a school trip I’m planning, and I want to poke my head in and make sure she keeps her word.”
    “A trip?”
    “Yeah,” Lila said, absently, staring off.  “I like to take the kids somewhere every year and I might have gotten a little too excited this time around…”  She waved her hand as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Jack could see that it was.
    He hesitated.   “You really love those kids, huh?” he asked, softly, opening her door for her.
    Li la climbed in without answering.
    As Jack pulled out of the Starbucks he proceeded to take the longest possible route to the Dalton school, driving a little below the speed limit.  He could tell that he had almost overstepped his bounds in the parking lot by bringing up the kids, but the fact that she hadn’t completely ripped his head off was a good sign.  He didn’t want this morning to end, couldn’t get enough of her, and he was now unable to hinder himself from speaking to her freely, especially since he had no idea when he’d see her again.
    “ I never knew you had a sister,” he said, looking over to her in the passenger’s seat.
    Lila was snapped out of her revere at the comment and tossed her head to the side to look at him, not sure how to respond.
    The car came to a stop light and Jack couldn’t help but fill the silence.  “You know, it’s my grandmother’s wedding anniversary today. She called me this morning and left a very shrill voicemail message telling me how excited she was—then she told me the only gift she wanted was that I visit my parents.”
    “Do you not visit them often?” Lila asked, unable to fight her curiosity.
    Jack was silent for a long while. “No.”
    Lila nodded.
    “But I’m glad I did today.”
    She lowered her eyes, not realizing that she’d been clawing her nails into her jeans since the moment he’d started talking.   She relaxed her hands and took a deep breath.
    Jack rested his elbow on the window as he ran his fingers through his short hair, watching her out of the corner of his eye.   “Is that why you were crying at the wedding? Because it's Danielle’s birthday today?”
    “Is this a cross-examination?” Lila teased, softly. “Should I have a lawyer present?”
    Jack gave her a look. She was playing it off like a big joke, but he wasn’t joking. After spending the morning with her he knew that if he had to go another day without answers there was a strong possibility that he would call off work and follow her into that damn school.
    Lila didn’t want to talk about it, but she found herself unable to be nasty to him.  He’d been so good to her that morning and for the first time since she’d met him she found herself trusting him.  “It was a celebration.  I didn’t want to darken anyone’s doorway with my problems.  Well, except yours…”  She smirked at him.
    “You didn’t darken my doorway.”
    Lila remained silent, staring ahead.
    “You could have talked to me about it…”
    “I don’t talk about it.  I drink it away, or fight it away, or fuck it away.”
    Jack’s eyebrows rose.
    Lila pretended to be looking out of the window as she jammed her eyes shut. She couldn't believe she'd just said that to him.  Had Jessica spiked her coffee?
    “So that’s all you wanted that night?  To fuck it away?”
    She looked back to him with desperate eyes, but she’d never seen him more stubborn or determined.   He was not going to be talked or tricked out of this conversation.  It was happening, whether she liked it or not.  She’d never seen him in a more open and honest state than he was right then, his golden eyes gentle and completely undefended.  He’d