Richmond-Banks Brothers 1: A Hopeless Place (BWWM Interracial Romance) Read Online Free Page B

dark tapestry curtains.
    He buried his eyes into the crook of his left elbow. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
    I flipped the latches on the window and slid it open. “Hear that? Listen.”
    Bennett lowered his arm and peered toward the window with narrowed eyes. “What am I listening for?”
    “Robins. Do you hear them?”
    “Yes, what about them?”
    “There’s a whole world out there, Bennett, and you’re just denying yourself the privilege of knowing it,” I said, standing on my soapbox. “You need to be a part of that. You owe it to yourself. Live a little.”
    “Why is this so important to you,” Bennett scoffed. “You’re just hired help.”
    “I’m a nurse,” I said, holding my head high. “Believe it or not, I care about you.”
    I grabbed his dishes and left his room, returning a few minutes later with a pair of sneakers in hand.
    “What are those for?” Bennett asked, wrinkling his nose at me.
    “It took me forever to find these. I think they’re your dad’s, but they should work.”
    “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, crossing his arms like a petulant child, his golden eyes burning into mine.
    “I have something I want to show you,” I said. I could argue with him all day, if that was what it was going to take. I had all the time in the world.
    Bennett glanced out the window as a light breeze ruffled his thick, chocolate brown hair, pushing it into his eyes. I walked over and pushed the hair off his face. The reflection of the sunlight in his hazel eyes nearly took my breath away. He was beautiful, almost in an otherworldly sort of way, as if he didn’t belong here and was merely passing through.
    “Where are you taking me?” Bennett asked, his tone relenting and defeated.
    “I’m taking you to my car.”
    “Don’t be a smart ass,” he said with a humored huff. “You know what I meant.”
    “You ask a lot of questions,” I teased.
    Within minutes, we were sitting in my car, buckled in, waiting for the heat to kick on. Bennett shivered as he rubbed his hands together, saying nothing.
    “We’re just taking a little cruise,” I said, my breath turning into puffy white clouds that quickly dissipated once they hit the warm air that was beginning to blow from the vents. I pressed my foot against the accelerator and my car lunged forward, the engine rattling.
    “Geez, loud enough for you?” Bennett said.
    “I’m sorry, my family isn’t loaded and could only afford to get me this piecer,” I replied. “But it gets me where I need to go, so I can’t really complain.”
    He sat still and quiet for a bit as we drove out of his neighborhood. I had less than a quarter of a tank of gas, but it was enough to get us out of that Godforsaken mansion for a while.
    “Do you know how to drive?” I asked.
    “Nope. Never learned.”
    “Maybe I can teach you someday,” I offered. I looked over at Bennett, who had removed his hat and gloves. The heat from the vents was starting to create a sauna in my little car. It was always one extreme or the other with that thing. “You can roll down your window, if you want.”
    He pressed the button on the passenger door and cracked the window, letting in a burst of frigid February air. “I want to see where you live.”
    “It’s nothing special,” I said with hesitation. “Just a small house on the other side of town.”
    “I want to see it.” He was as stubborn as ever.
    “I don’t know. Maybe another time.”
    “I’m just curious, that’s all. I won’t judge, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    I drove north to my part of town, just past the vacated appliance factory and the UAW union hall and further on by the seedy bars and strip clubs that everyone knew existed in Halverford, but no one ever talked about. We drove through a couple more neighborhoods all branded by unkempt yards and chain link fences, and I slowed down as I approached Halverford Avenue.
    “Right there,” I said as I pointed across the