Free A Little Taste of Naughty (A Shattered Lives Short) by Rissa Blakeley

out, then put his order in for his meal. He wondered if she was going to have the chef spit on his food. It was probably a good time to find another place to get his lunches, liquids, or otherwise.
    He nursed the double whiskey, and tuned into the conversations all around, as usual. Then he realized he heard a familiar raw and raspy voice. He peeked around his left shoulder, and what dumb luck did he have?
    There she was.
    The black-haired beauty with the meaty ass. She was finishing up lunch with a guy he presumed was her brother, considering they looked quite similar. Christ. Henry had a momentary thought of her using his lap as the seat. He had to shake his head to get the image out before he got hard right in the middle of the fucking joint. He turned back around and tuned into their conversation.
    “See, you asshole? See what happens when you don’t show up? I could have totally avoided that whole confrontation.” Her voice was full of bitterness.
    “I’m sorry! Jesus, Elaina. How many times do you want me to apologize?” Her brother had a smooth and rich voice, unlike hers.
    “More than you have,” she muttered. Henry chuckled. Her attitude was priceless and he loved every bit of it.
    “I don’t know what to tell you.” Henry could tell that her brother was absolutely annoyed by her. He guessed she was the younger sibling.
    “Whatever, Nick.” He could hear the eye roll in her voice.
    “How’s the new job?”
    She groaned. Henry closed his eyes, imagining that groan while she was in a compromised position…preferably while he was at her apex, making her writhe with great pleasure under his tongue.
    “Let me just tell you, that hag is a total fucking bitch.” His eyes popped back open.
    “Christ, Elaina.”
    “She accused me of flirting with a customer because I was chatting with him about the books he was purchasing. And she did it right in front of him! Hello, you hag, it’s a fucking bookshop. Aren’t I supposed to talk to the customers about the product we sell?” Henry worked hard not to burst out in laughter. He could have used a good laugh after the morning he had.
    “Bite your tongue, for once in your life. If you get fired from this job, Mom is going to disown you!” There was a moment of awkward silence between them. “Can we talk about Mom and Dad’s party?”
    “I’ll call you about that later. I found some ideas online last night, but I left the details at home.”
    “Typical.”
    “Oh, shut the hell up.”
    “Well, give me a call then,” he said. Henry heard her laugh. It was beautiful. It was almost a giggle, but not quite. “What?”
    “Are you going to be out with the next love of your life?”
    “I do have a date.”
    “Of course you do! Well, I’ve got to get back to the hag.” Henry looked back over his shoulder and saw her stand up. It looked like they were getting ready to pay. His heart raced. He wasn’t ready for her to leave. He wanted to follow her, but his meal hadn’t arrived yet. Normally, he would just leave the cash and run, but his gut was three levels of angry hungry. He needed to eat.
    She walked past him, and he glanced at her as she stopped at the register, which was two bar stools down from him. He inhaled as she passed by him. She smelled like vanilla. Goddamn, it was delicious. He wanted that wrapped around him, enveloping him. When she spoke with the cashier, her voice was like music to his ears.
    A soft smile graced his face. He watched her ass sway back and forth as she left the diner. Antsy didn’t even describe how he felt at that moment. He wanted to get out of there so he could follow her.
    Several minutes, and another double whiskey later, his meal finally arrived. He tipped back the rest of his drink and turned to get off the stool with paper bag in hand, full of greasy deliciousness. Then he saw that her table still hadn’t been cleared. His eyes darted around the table, trying to see what she was eating. A burger and fries,