Cursed Read Online Free Page B

just break in through the damn windows. And she was worried for her mother. She hadn’t been able to do anything for her when she was a teenager, but now she could help her out. She didn’t even know if her mom would recognize her.
    â€œSomething else is bothering you,” Mary concluded, after staring at her friend for a moment. “That guy scared you, didn’t he?”
    Lille sent her a disdainful look and waved her fingers negligently. “That idiot. I doubt he’ll be the last.”
    â€œAnd that scares you.” Mary seemed satisfied.
    â€œI’m not scared.”
    â€œâ€™Kay.”
    Lille shifted back in her seat and took a long sip of her margarita. “You’re bitchier than you used to be.”
    â€œI learn from the best.”
    Lille glanced back at Max, at the lethal beauty of him. “Don’t we all, darling . . . ”
    An hour and two rounds later the football game had ended, and most of the bar’s inhabitants headed home to face the start of the week, shouting good-byes to Max, and occasionally to Lille and Mary, as they left. A few people stopped to ask what had happened at the Box.
    â€œYou should close that place down,” one man told Lille. “Find yourself a man.”
    â€œI’ve found plenty,” Lille replied with a snap of her teeth and a dazzling smile.
    An older woman with crystal-covered clothing had suggested that owning the store had just gotten too dangerous.
    â€œThere’s been two break-ins this year,” she’d informed Lille, as if Lille were somehow unaware of this fact.
    After their visitors had left, Lille looked around the bar. “Why are the women glaring at me?” Lille wanted to know.
    Mary put a finger to her lips and drawled, “Hmm . . . let me think.” Mary was well on her way to being a little drunk. Lille always thought Mary was pretty funny when she drank—she was even more honest and extremely silly.
    â€œAre you suggesting that I’ve done something wrong?” Lille ventured.
    â€œNo.” Mary gave an exaggerated shake of her head. “You’re just too pretty, you’re kinda famous, and Max likes you.” She waved at the bar to where Max was closing out a few tabs and nearly hit John in the face.
    â€œHmmm.” Lille wasn’t so sure Max liked her. She thought he could like her, if she let him. She glanced at him again.
    â€œIs he planning on coming over here?”
    John leaned back, putting one arm around Mary. It looked affectionate, but she thought he was probably holding Mary upright. “Oh, I’d pretty much guarantee it.”
    Lille shifted in her seat and crossed her legs. She wanted him, wanted a distraction, but she was torn over whether or not it was wise. Using him for sex didn’t work; he’d snuck in under her defenses and had made her like him, damn it.
    When Max finally joined them, he was wearing his typical jeans and a black polo with the name of the pub embroidered above his heart. His thick hair was a little mussed, as if he’d been running his hands through it, and he was carrying a Guinness. He motioned with his head for her to scoot over and she did, letting him slide in beside her.
    He looked at her as if she were the only person in the room, his blue eyes drifting over her face. He still seemed annoyed, but not as pissed off as he had been.
    â€œLille.” He nodded to her and then turned his attention to John and Mary. “So how’re things over at the Box? Have you sold out of naughty Halloween costumes, then?”
    Lille didn’t know why he hadn’t asked her that question. She pouted; she was the one managing most everything. Still, she wasn’t in the mood to fight; the warm, hard length of him was pressing along her left side, and every time he moved his shoulder, elbow, or knee, he brushed against her.
    She was tempted to slide her hand up his leg and cup him