AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hmph. Not a good sign.
As soon as I was left alone, I’d walked out of the reception area with its ridiculous, energy-sucking fountain, headed back to the office section, and found it empty. Monumentally empty. Unused desks. Empty cubicles. No computer equipment. Funereal silence. A quarter of the high-rise building’s floor was deserted. Clemens & Associates did not exist, at least not here. And yet, a waterfall gurgled cheerfully in that lobby. I was manning phones for an army of ghosts.
Was C&A a front for a shady business of some kind? Some money-laundering operation? Isodid not want to come to the attention of the law. Or even worse, the media. Not with that murdering son-of-a-bitch Tony Petruzzi scheduled to walk out of prison any time now. The idea of making the news, for any reason, made my guts cramp.
Maybe I should just walk right out of here. Right now, without a word to anyone.
The office manager hadn’t even briefed me on my duties. She’d just bustled in, looking harassed, and told me to answer the phones. Nothing else. She’d signed the authorization form for the temp agency, and then scurried away. No instructions on fielding calls. No names to take messages for. No friendly chitchat. No hints or clues.
Fine, whatever. They paid me by the hour, and the form was already signed.
But still, it bugged me to just sit by a silent phone until my ass went numb. I’d gotten up early, put on mascara and heels and dragged myself in here on time, with brains and energy and good sense to trade for my hourly wage—and for what? I’d rather type, file, photocopy, even fetch coffee for somebody rather than just sit here idle.
No sense getting worked up about it. I needed to make rent for the martial arts school, and fix the latest water damage, since the landlord wouldn’t. And get glasses for Charlotte, a fourth grader in my Stand Up For Yourself class. Charlotte was flunking out because she couldn’t see the blackboard at school, or read without getting headaches.
Eyes on the prize, Banner. If some dumbass wanted to pay me to sit in front of a silent phone, sit I would. That was the price I continually had to pay for not getting a “real” job. Not that the martial arts school wasn’t real. It just wasn’t real in a financial sort of way. Not yet.
Thinking about the school made me restless, so I got up to pace the room. No one was here to see or care and just sitting there made me twitch and drum my fingers.
A minute later, the elevator door pinged.Shit.I lunged for the desk.
The door opened to reveal two men talking in the elevator. I leaned over and punched buttons on the phone console in a vain attempt to look as if I had something to do, then glanced up…
And kept on looking. No, not just looking. Gawking.
The object of my gawk gazed calmly back as he followed the other guy out of the elevator. I just stood there. His dark, penetrating gaze pinned me to the spot.
I couldn’t move.
Panic stabbed through me. What the hell? This wasn’t me. I never froze. That just didn’t happen, not after that fateful day years ago, with Raffi and Gabri and Tony. That experience had wired me up to react instinctually. No time for thought. I always kept my cool, had fast reflexes, made rapid-fire choices.
That was why I was still breathing.
After years of intense martial arts study, I was highly sensitive to the quality of energy moving in a person’s body, and the big guy vibrated with it. His body was broad, thickly muscled but still graceful and well-proportioned in his sleek tailored suit. The power of his sheer physical presence raised all my short hairs and made my toes tighten.
His face was rough-hewn. Long, narrow, with heavy brows and a strong, aquiline nose. Not pretty-boy at all. I liked that. And the sun wrinkles around those deep, dark eyes. Strong cheekbones, deep-carved seams around his mouth.
Which deepened as he smiled. I heard it almost as if he were saying it out loud.Go ahead and stare. They all do.
Someone was talking, but my brain was too occupied to decode the sound into words. This was ridiculous. I had to cough. Look up. Look down. Do anything.
The good-looking guy’s gaze flicked to the shorter guy, and I belatedly realized the short guy was addressing his words to me.
“…even awake?” Short Guy was glaring, his puffy face red. “Hello? Are you connected?” He waved his hand sarcastically in front of my face. “Anybody home in there, blondie?”
Blondie?“Yes,” I said coolly.
“Well, glad to hear it. As I was just saying, we’ll be meeting in the conference room down on the eleventh floor with the engineering team, since the conference room on this floor is booked up, so forward all my calls down there. Got it?”
Conference room,booked?That conference room didn’t even have a freaking table or chairs! Whatever weird shit was happening here today, I wanted no part of it.
The guy blathered on, his voice fake-hearty. “Okay, Ethan. We’re done here. I’ll see you downstairs.”
Ethan.Hmmm. The sex god’s name was Ethan. I liked the name Ethan.
“I’ll head on down.” The big guy’s deep voice moved over my senses like warm, silky fur. He gave me a long, hungry look, and smiled.
I gathered my wits, and addressed Short Guy. “Excuse me, sir. Could I have your name?”
