“I don’t know,” the voice returned.
Ryan slammed the phone down, walked over to the window of his office and looked down at the street below. No sign of her. It was probably better this way anyway, then he wouldn’t have to get rid of her. In fact, it was all working out perfectly . . .
But then why did he have a desire to go and find her?
He pushed the thought from his mind, sat down at his desk and took out his laptop. He pressed some keys meaninglessly, all the while wondering where the hell she was.
“For heaven’s sake!” He got up from his desk and strode out of his office.
It didn’t take him long to find her. He could make her out in the distance struggling to walk up the steep hill. She looked a total wreck from behind, and he wondered what she looked like from the front. He put on his hazard lights and slowed all the way down. He came up next to her and opened his window.
“Miss Granger,” he called. She turned and, oh God, shedidlook like a wreck. She was dripping with sweat, had a twig stuck in her hair, her skirt looked like it had been ripped, not to mention those stains on her shirt and . . . was she bleeding? “Are you okay?”
“Does it look like I’m okay?” she shouted over her shoulder and sped up. He easily matched her speed.
“Do you need medical attention?” he asked, feeling strangely concerned for her physical well-being.
She stopped momentarily and looked down at her grazed knees. “I’m sure my legs won’t fall off, if that’s what you mean?” Her tone was snappy and sarcastic, and she started walking again.
“Where’re you going?” He was having to shout over the sounds of traffic flying past him.
“Home,” she yelled over her shoulder without looking at him.
“There was a misunderstanding this morning. I forgot to tell Ayanda at reception that you were coming in.”
She finally stopped walking and swiveled round. The movement caused her shirt to pull tightly across her chest, her buttons straining against her breasts. He quickly looked away.
“You know she had security drag me out?” she asked.
“I apologize for that. She didn’t realize that I’d hired you. It was my mistake.”Mistake?What the hell was he saying? Had he just admitted to making a mistake? He never made mistakes.
She glared at him through those silly broken glasses. “What did she say again? Something about you thinking I was mentally unstable?” She shook her head and then tried to march up the hill as fast as she could. He sped up and she glanced back at him angrily, and then started jogging. Ryan smiled to himself; he was finding this somewhat amusing.
“Miss Granger.” He tried to hold back his smile and sound serious. “Just get in the car and come back to the office.”
“NO!” She tried to sprint but looked like she was about to collapse.
“This is ridiculous. Just get in my car, and we’ll go back to the office together.”
“Your office?” She burst out laughing, sounding somewhat manic. “But I’m sure you don’t want to hire a mad, crazy woman like me. You never know what I might do.” She turned and made some bizarre gestures with her hands and then tried to start sprinting again.
A small chuckle escaped his lips. She was dramatic, he’d give her that! “You know, my car’s top speed is well over 170 miles an hour.” He bit back a smile again as he watched her power-march to the other side of the road in an attempt to get away from him. He crossed the road quickly and was right back at her side again. He opened his other window to continue their conversation.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” he called out.
“I told you. Home.”
“You’re going to walk all the way home?”
“Yes!” she snapped breathily before finally coming to a stop. “Oh God, it hurts!” She moaned loudly and dropped down at her waist, totally out of breath.
“You can’t walk all the way home. It’s way too far.” He stopped his car now. “Besides, it doesn’t look like you’re going to make it in the state you’re in.” That seemed to get her attention. Her head snapped up and she gave him another death stare.
“I don’t need you telling me what I can and can’t do!” She sounded genuinely pissed off and started walking again. He started his car once more and continued his slow crawl after her.
“It’s not safe for you to walk alone like this.” He tried a different tactic now.
“I’ve been in worse situations than this, trust me.” She was picking up her pace again.
