Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“Damn it.”
“What is it? Is it your back?”
“My eyes.”
“Your eyes?” he asked. “What happened to your eyes? Jesus, I was only gone twenty minutes.”
“They’re leaking.”
“Leaking?” He stilled and stared down at her. The parking lot was well lit; however, she still couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. “Do you mean that you’re crying?”
“Yes. If that’s what you want to call it.”
“Pretty sure that’s what it’s called, sweetheart.”
She sniffled. “I don’t like it. I want it to stop.”
“It’s all right to cry.”
“Do you cry?” she asked incredulously.
“No. I can’t remember the last time I cried.”
“Well, then, when you cry, come back to me and tell me it’s all right. Because it’s really not. If it gets bad, then I’ll start to sob. And if I start sobbing, then I’ll get all snotty. And my cheeks will go blotchy. My make-up will run. It’s a whole thing, and none of it is . . . is pretty!” she wailed.
“Do you get louder as well?” he asked as he entered Pinkies.
“Yes!” she cried. “Oh God, people are going to see me.”
“Yes, they’re probably wondering how a fox got in here.”
“A fox?” she asked as he carried her down a passage and into his office. At least they’d come in the back way.
“Hmm. A female fox can sound like a person in distress.”
“Really?” She wiped at her tears, trying to hide her face. She didn’t need to scare the poor guy half to death.
“Yes, they let out a similar sort of cry when they want to mate.”
She gaped up at him. “You are kidding me?”
“I assure you, I am not.” He set her down on the sofa before sitting on the old coffee table in front of her. He grabbed the box of tissues from next to him.
“Thanks,” she muttered, taking a few tissues.
He watched her as she cleaned herself up, which was kind of embarrassing. When she was finished, she glanced around for a garbage bin.
“What are you looking for?”
“Um, somewhere to throw my tissues.”
He held out his hand. She looked down at it, wondering what he wanted. A high-five. Weird, but okay.
She slapped her hand down on his.
“What was that?”
“A high-five. That’s what you wanted, right?”
“I want the tissues.”
“Why would you want the tissues? They’re used.”
“To throw them in the bin.”
Dear Lord. There was no hope for her. None at all.
“I can throw them in the garbage.”
“Effie.”
It was all he said.
It was enough. After all, she’d just given him an unwanted high-five. If it hadn’t been for falling over on stage while wearing next to nothing, this would be the most embarrassing thing to happen to her.
“It’s all right, I’ll just hold on to them.”
“Effie. Give me the tissues.”
She handed them over. There was no denying him when he used that tone.
And that tone was bossy and hot.
She was a total goner.
4
“Where are your gloves?” Grady asked with a frown as he took the tissues, throwing them into a bin that she hadn’t seen from her angle.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t find them before I left the house.”
He eyed her. “You went outside in February in Montana without gloves?”
He made it sound like she’d gone outside while naked. That had nearly happened once. She’d missed putting out the garbage bin the night before. Oh, she’d had panties on, but still . . . she was grateful she’d realized her error when she’d opened the doors and the cool air hit her nipples.
“I’ve lost you again.”
“What? I’m here. I’m good.”
“Are you?” he asked.
“Uh-huh. Are you good?” It was nice to ask people how they were doing, right?
“What I am is angry.”
“You are?”
He didn’t look or sound angry.
“I am.”
“You don’t look it,” she told him.
“Then you’ll have to take my word for it. I am upset. With you.”
Ouch. That felt like a punch to the gut.
“Mr. Grady—” she started to say.
“It’s just Grady.”
“Oh. Uh, that’s not what you told Lucy.”
He just looked at her. “That’s for Lucy. For you, it’s just Grady.”
That turned the pain in her stomach into something warmer that filled her whole body.
“All right, Grady. Why are you upset with me?”
“Are you kidding me?” he asked, turning her words from earlier back on her.
“Um, no,” she said. “Why are you mad?”
“You left.”
“Oh. But you left first.”
Lame, Effie. Really lame.
Lord, she really could use some jelly beans right now. And a hug from Slowly. And some painkillers.
“I left, but I was coming back. Were you coming back?” he asked.
“I might have been?”
“I believe we have discussed lying. What did I say to you before I left?”
“It was more like what did you order me before you left.”
“Yes, it was,” he replied calmly. “And what did I order you?”
“To stay here and not move.”
“Did you stay?”
“Um, no.”
“You disobeyed me.”
Damn, he had this whole stern professor thing going on right now.
And she could be the naughty college student . . . uh-uh, no. Stop, Effie. This was not the time for her imagination to run wild on her.