Free My Destiny by Adrianne Byrd Page A

entire room felt like a lion’s lair.
    With a smug smile, she chose the adjoining wing chair. If he thought he’d snagged another victim, he had another thing coming.
    “Ah, here you go,” Miles said, suddenly from behind her.
    Destiny jumped slightly.
    He laughed. “There’s no need to be bouncing around like some scared mouse. I’m not going to attack you.”
    “Said the spider to the fly.” Destiny accepted the offered bottle of water. “Thank you. And I’m not scared of you.” She lifted the bottle to her lips.
    “It’s not that I hadn’t considered it,” he added, and then laughed when she started to choke.
    “Very funny.” She wiped in vain at the front of her pajama top.
    Still laughing, he shrugged. “Hey, I’m just being honest with you.”
    “I guess there’s a first time for everything,” she said smugly.
    His laughter faded. “I thought we were calling a truce?”
    She mimicked his earlier nonchalance. “You started it.”
    He disappeared into the kitchen and returned to hand her a paper towel.
    “Thank you.”
    “Ooh, manners. Who would have thought?”
    “You’re doing it again,” she warned.
    He rolled his eyes and went to the sofa. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
    Destiny forgot she was sitting next to the phone and jumped at its unexpected ring.
    Miles laughed again. “I’m glad to see that you’re not scared.”
    She fought her urge to throw the damn thing at him.
    “Hello,” he answered, standing up and maneuvering around the long cord.
    Destiny leaned back in her chair and once again took in her surroundings while he headed toward the kitchen for some privacy.
    “Hey, Wes. Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry I bailed out on you, but you know you were dead wrong for that stunt you pulled on me tonight.”
    Destiny frowned with curiosity, but continued to pretend that she wasn’t listening.
    “Does it sound like I’m laughing?” Miles said into the phone. “You know I’ll get you back.” He listened, and then said, “No, no. I was the perfect gentleman. I drove her back home, said hello to her three Bebe kids, and came home.”
    Taking another sip of water, Destiny’s curiosity waned into disinterest. She continued to look around and was more than impressed with the décor. An extraordinary assembly of bold paintings graced one side of the living room while on the other were more gentle, spiritual paintings. The furniture was bold and masculine while everything else was soft and feminine.
    She shook her head and decided that he must have hired a professional decorator because if he had done this; it would imply there was a side to him that she preferred to believe didn’t exist.
    “Sorry about that,” Miles said, rejoining her in the living room. He reclaimed his seat on the sofa, and then asked, “Now where were we?”
    “Nowhere.” She extended her hand for the phone. “May I try Wendell again?”
    “Sure.” He handed it to her.
    She quickly dialed the number only to be disappointed when there was still no answer. “I think I’m going to cry,” she said, hanging up.
    “Oh, come on. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping you company.” He leaned back with a confident smile.
    Destiny couldn’t figure out what it was about him that put her on edge, but she did have enough common sense to realize that her behavior toward him was bordering on rude, so she made another attempt to adjust her attitude. “I guess I can’t complain.”
    “Then I guess you were right, there’s a first time for everything.”
    They laughed.
    Miles swept a hand toward her. “Since Halloween is a little ways off, what on earth possessed you to roam the halls looking like that?”
    Self-consciously, she reached up to touch her hair. She gave him an embarrassed look. “It’s a long story.”
    “I don’t have anything planned.” He took another gulp from his bottle and added, “And it doesn’t appear that you’re going anywhere any time soon,