Free Son of Eden, a Paranormal Romance by Brianna Merrill

friend.
    “ I wouldn’t feel that way if he were some weirdo or criminal .” Emily reasoned as she went back to drying her hair.
    It was Saturday morning and she was going to meet Alexander in one hour. After her hair and makeup were done she made a beeline for her closet. Emily had done a little shopping this past week in anticipation for today. When she had come home from the charity concert and went to put her dress away she quickly determined that she didn’t have any casual clothes that were cute enough to wear around Alexander. After all, most of her clothes appeared to be more like tattered sacks that were poorly fitted and hung awkwardly.
    Shopping had helped to make the week pass by more quickly and Emily found that she had actually enjoyed it. It was somewhat difficult at first, because it reminded her of times spent with her mother. But, it was yet another step in healing and moving forward.
    Emily’s father was pleasantly surprised to see her come home with shopping bags in her hands. She knew he was thinking that it was all because of the date she had had with Rob. Emily didn’t feel like she needed to set the record straight, not yet.
    After dressing she glanced at the clock. There were only ten minutes left. Just enough time to get down to the street with a minute or two to spare. Carefully hiding that she was in a rush, Emily gave her father a quick kiss and left. She had told him that her plan was to spend the day with Candice. Again, she was lying and she hated it, but she wasn’t ready to tell her dad about Alexander, she couldn’t. Her father had seemed more than happy to let her go and did not ask any further questions.
    Emily could feel her heart begin to pound as she rode the elevator down to the lobby. Once outside it only took a quick glance before she spotted him. Alexander was leaning against the building about fifteen feet away.
    He had a fitted crème v-neck sweater on with a dark washed pair of jeans and a gray wool coat that stopped at the middle of his thigh. He looked just as solid and strong as the stone building he was leaning against. She was glad she had decided to go shopping this week. She would have looked quite drab walking next to Alexander wearing some of her older clothes. His dark wavy hair seemed to be perfectly in place, yet still sported a slightly disheveled look. As always, Emily’s eyes centered on his; she wondered if she would ever get used to that bright green color.
    Alexander took a few big strides and was beside her within seconds.
    “Hello Emily.”
    “Hi.” She was grinning from ear to ear and tried to remind herself not to seem overly excited. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
    “No, you are right on time. But you would have been worth any amount of waiting.”
    Emily instantly felt her cheeks go red and hot against the cold crisp air.
    “Well, ummm,” Emily was struggling with her words as she tried to get her blush under control. “My violin isn’t ready yet, so I’m not sure what you want to do.”
    “That’s excellent. I figured it wouldn’t be ready,” Alexander said with enthusiasm.
    “Did you have something planned already?” Emily wondered if he had ever intended to pick up the violin at all today. It seemed as though he was hoping for a date with her.
    “Actually I do have somewhere I wanted to take you.” Alexander’s eyes were shining bright. She could see the excitement behind them.
    “Well I’m up for anything.” Emily was being truthful. She really was willing to do whatever, as long as Alexander was with her.
    “Do you mind walking? The place I had in mind is only a mile from here.”
    “Nope, not at all. Actually I prefer it.” Emily’s apartment was located next to Central Park.
    When it was warmer in the spring and summer she always enjoyed walks through Central Park and the surrounding area. Luckily, an unseasonable heat wave brought it up to forty-five degrees already and the high was supposed to be in the