See Jane Fall Read Online Free Page B

harmonies and sweet tune envelop her. Come softly, darling.
Come to me, stay. You’re my obsession forever and a day…
    Her afternoon was not turning out as
planned. She should be doing work on her phone, not listening to
obscure music with a hot tour guide. But she was so tired, and the
music was so nice. It was such a relief to be far away from New
York, and it had been weeks, maybe months, since her father felt so real to her.
    She glanced at Lars and felt her stomach
flutter. His lips were moving as he sang softly, but she couldn’t
actually hear any sound. She watched his lips, almost mesmerized,
wondering what it would be like to—
    “Take a picture, it lasts longer.”
    “A harbinger of our shared youth. How very
sophisticated of you to quote Pee Wee Herman,” she muttered,
looking down quickly, feeling her face flush hot.
    “Do you need a camera? I could loan you one.
I bet your—your, uh, fancy-pants phone there has one. Doesn’t it?
Do you want me to smile? Pose?”
    She squirmed in her seat, peeking at him
with an embarrassed grimace, wishing he didn’t look so
adorable.
    “I admit it. I was staring. You were
mouthing the words, but no sound was coming out.” It was mostly the
truth.
    He flicked a glance to her. “Smooth.”
    “Conceited.”
    “Quick.”
    “Forgiven.”
    “Intriguing.”
    She grinned. Since when was Jane Mays
intriguing to anyone? Especially anyone as hot as Lars Lindstrom?
She felt a little chuffed, a little saucy, maybe even a little
sexy.
    Or maybe she was feeling sexy because of the
ass massage her phone was giving her. She’d been so distracted by
Lars, she hadn’t realized it was buzzing. She shifted to pull it
out of her back pocket.
    Samara. Jane stared at her name and
beautiful face on the iPhone screen, the familiar heaviness of
servitude compressing her chest. She clenched her jaw, knowing that
if she answered, she was going to have to listen to some long
tirade that required immediate attention, Jane . Jane
was tired. She was tired of being at the beck and call of a fully
grown woman who had no appreciation, respect or understanding of
what Jane did for her every day.
    Maybe it was time Samara found out.
    For one day, after five years in manacles,
she wanted to be free. She just wanted to be Jane, with her own
thoughts, her own experiences, a conversation with a handsome blond
and a little ’60s music. Was that too much to ask? She was sick and
tired of being an extension of Samara, a nobody, a shadow.
    Oh, she wouldn’t get involved with Lars.
This wasn’t about Lars, and the memory of Ben was still
fresh enough to sting. No, this was about Jane. This was about Jane
having a few hours to herself.
    In a second the phone would start playing
Samara’s favorite song, Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” whose
meaning had been totally lost on Samara, but which she had
programmed into Jane’s phone as her ringtone anyway.
    Jane’s finger hovered over the green Talk
button, trembling, but she impulsively hit the red End button
instead, exhaling loudly, then almost giggling with the outlandish
reality that she had just hung up on Samara Amaya. Throwing all
caution and sanity to the wind, she pressed hard on the power
button until the phone powered down completely. She stared at the
screen for three seconds, realizing she’d never seen it so black
and still while on the ground in five years.
    “Anything important?” asked Lars, turning
down the radio.
    “No,” answered Smooth, Quick, Intriguing
Jane. She turned the radio back up and tossed the phone into the
outer pocket of her backpack.
    Right now I’m just going to be Jane Mays.
Nobody’s assistant. Nobody’s cousin. Nobody’s niece. Sadly,
nobody’s daughter. Today is for me. Just for me.
    She turned to Lars and smiled, feeling a
thousand-pound weight slip off her shoulders. Oh, she’d pay for her
rash decision later. But, for now, as Ray had kindly pointed out,
she had three days to herself.
    And damn