Free A Beauty Dark & Deadly (A Dark & Deadly Series Book 1) by Heather C. Myers Page B

in his office to work.  While some writers might not have been thrown by this, he was.  He needed peace and quiet to fuel his concentration.  She would ask him minuscule things, such as what he wanted for dinner, if he was going to the grocery store, and other questions that could have waited until he was done.  He had told her not to bother him, but maybe that was in her nature, maybe she just really needed loving attention from him.  And maybe if he had given it to her, she wouldn’t have run off with… But he didn’t want to think about that anymore.
     
    As he headed back inside, a sudden thought struck him.  Emmy… hadn’t run away from him, did she?  He headed up the stairs and into her room.  No, all of her stuff was still here.  Jason meant to leave upon realizing this, but instead of taking a step back, he took a step forward.  Her room was very clean, very empty in a way.  A laptop was on a dresser, and a couple of books, a framed photograph and a cell phone were all on the nightstand next to her bed.  He took a seat on the bed, facing the beautiful view out the triangular-shaped window, and was immediately hit with a very subtle scent of vanilla and cinnamon.  This was what she smelled like, he realized.  A soft smile touched his lips.  He rather liked this scent.
     
    Jason’s eyes caught sight of the photo and decided to have a look at it.  He rationalized that she had pretty much done the same to him, and it was only fair that he check her out as well.  Jason shook his head; he did not usually do things like this.  In fact, he was a very private person himself, but his desire seemed to outweigh propriety at the moment, and he took the frame in his hand so he could look upon it more thoroughly.  It was of her and her grandfather, and judging from the deep, royal blue robe and a matching, square cap with a tassel hanging from the center of it, it was her high school graduation photograph.  Her colorful eyes were heightened due to the black eyeliner, and her lips were pulled into the most genuine smile he had ever seen.  She looked so incredibly happy, and he wanted to see such a smile in real life.  Better than that, he realized he wanted to be the cause of such happiness.  The two seemed to be on a field, probably a football field, and the picture was probably taken after the ceremony due to the similar situations concerning her colleagues seen in the background and posing for similar pictures.
     
    He let out a sigh and placed the photo back down on the nightstand.  Jason had never really thought about love, or even attraction since Stacey had left him.  He had isolated himself from society, couldn’t stand the questioning and the judgmental looks anymore.  If people didn’t want him around, if people didn’t want him shopping, or getting gas, or anything like that, then he was happy to withdraw in seclusion.  He wanted to write in private anyways, and it was nice not to have the phone constantly ringing or people continuously knocking on his front door.  How long had it been since Stacey’s… disappearance?  Two years ago? How different he had been then.  In all honesty, he never thought he would meet somebody.  He thought love would elude him, and was quite content with the thought.  How could anyone love him given the general perception people had of him?
     
    And then she walked through his door.  Emmy was unlike anyone he had ever met.  It was true, however, that it did not exactly appear that she was falling head over heels for him, but the fact that she took his job, the fact that she had stood up for him at the supermarket, that all meant that she wasn’t going to hold society’s perceptions of him against him per se.  Maybe if he showed her who he really was, she might actually like him, they might actually be friends, maybe even more…  He chuckled at this thought.  Yeah, as though somebody like her could actually be interested in someone like him.