Before You: Standalone Contemporary Romance Read Online Free Page A

Afghanistan, I wasn't so easy to reach.”
    “I'm sorry,” I said, not really knowing what the right thing to say would be.
    His eyes moved around the apartment. “Don't be. It was just a place to sleep – a place to keep my stuff. Your place will be the same. As will be the next.”
    “And a place to display the things you've seen,” I added feeling sad at the way he seemed so resigned to being displaced. “Your photo wall in there, it's quite spectacular.”
    He glanced over his shoulder then turned back to me and nodded. “It made you cry.”
    I shrugged. “Maybe it did. Or maybe it was just allergies...”
    A smile spread across his lips. It was small, but it was there. He was amused by my denial of something that was so obvious. “Those allergies can be a real kicker.”
    I smiled in return. “I should probably see a doctor about it.” I took a bite of Danish and relished the buttery sweetness on my tongue as it mixed with the aftertaste of coffee. “By the way, thanks for breakfast. And to answer your question, the moving van is coming on Monday. We need to be packed up by then.”
    Nodding, he began to chew his lip, continuing to look around the apartment, assessing everything in sight, before returning his deep green eyes to mine. “Thank you for offering somewhere for us to stay. I do appreciate it.”
    I laughed a little as his words made it out that I was some kind of charity who helped people. “I didn’t exactly offer – Dave called and told me what was happening. The house I live in, it’s his too. So I didn’t have much of a choice. But, you’re welcome nonetheless.”
    André frowned. “You bought a house together?”
    I pulled a small piece off my pastry and rolled it between my fingers. “No. It was the house we grew up in. Our...our parents died a decade ago.” I kept to the facts. “They left it to us. I moved in there after college and Dave came out here. But, since your landlord is selling this place and your production company has relocated to LA, he wants his old room back, so to speak.” I forced a smile, meeting his eyes while knowing exactly what I’d see when I looked into them. He just learned that I’m an orphan. He’d feel sorry for me and at the same time would want to know how my parents died. It’s always the same. Each and every time.
    Instead, he let out a sigh and simply nodded as if accepting it as a simple fact.
    “That makes sense,” he said.
    I gave him a curious look so he clarified.
    “Moving to LA – it makes sense. I’ll try not to be in your way for too long. I’m sure I can find somewhere more suitable fairly quickly once we’re there.”
    “It’s fine, André. Like I said, it’s Dave’s place too. I flew out here to move you both back to LA. So as long as we can deal with whatever this weirdness is between us, you can stay as long as you like. With the amount you and Dave travel, it will be more of a storage site than living space. And the place is huge so...”
    He frowned. “What weirdness between us?”
    I opened my mouth to respond, but instead, I clamped my lips together and shook my head. “Nothing.” I waved my hand in the air to dismiss what I’d said. “Let’s just get packing. We only have until the end of the week, and this place needs to be empty and cleared out when we leave.”
    Nodding once, he picked up the boxes again and went into his room, closing the door quietly behind him as I sat at the table and took the first large gulp of air I’d been able to take since I’d caught him staring at me.
    My body was still tingling.

- 3 -
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    F or an apartment that seemed so sparse, just packing up Dave’s room had taken up my entire day. I’d once again skipped another meal, not realizing it had passed lunchtime until the scent of cooking meat floated through the air and tickled at my nose. My stomach growled audibly, and I stopped what I was doing and immediately went to the kitchen. I imagine I