Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Go to sleep. Don’t worry. I’m going to help you get this fixed.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as he walked over to turn out the lights.
When he started to close the door, she blurted, “Could you leave the door open a bit? It’s so dark in here.”
“Of course. There’s always a light on in the hallway. Sleep tight, Little girl.”
As she nestled into the crisp sheets, hope kindled inside Cynthia for the first time since she’d slid that flash drive into her work computer. Exhausted, she tumbled into sleep.
CHAPTER 3
Terrified shrieks woke Cynthia up from a deep sleep in what she guessed was the middle of the night. She sat up in bed and looked around, trying to remember where she was. When everything flooded back into her brain, she wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed. When her door opened, Cynthia cowered as she automatically searched blindly for Bullyboo to protect him.
“Cynthia, are you okay?” a worried deep voice asked from the doorway.
“Who are you?” she whispered, trying to shake off the nightmare that still lingered around her.
“I’m going to turn the light on so you can see me. It’s Dirk O’Roark, sweetheart. Easton Edgewater sent you here to talk to me,” he reminded her gently before turning on the light.
“Why did you scream?” she asked as all the pieces clicked into place and she blinked into the bright overhead light.
“You screamed, Little girl. I came to make sure you were okay.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she whispered in embarrassment.
“I don’t think anyone means to have dreams so terrifying that they scream,” Dirk said.
As he walked into the room, Cynthia realized he only wore sleep pants slung low around his waist. Dirk’s chiseled chest and abdomen fueled arousal deep inside her. She’d never seen a man that well formed in person before. He was simply breathtaking.
“Little girl,” he said softly to draw her attention to his face when he stopped next to her bed.
“What?” As her gaze met his, she realized he knew exactly what she had been staring at. Her face flooded with heat. “Sorry!”
“Can I sit down?” he asked.
Cynthia nodded. When she closed her eyes to avoid staring at him at such a close distance, the nightmare came flooding back into her mind. “No!” she wailed as strange shadowy figures surrounded her once again.
“You’re safe here.” His voice pierced through the eeriness.
Catapulting forward, Cynthia leaned her cheek against his chest. She needed to make sure that he was really there. That this wasn’t the dream, and the nightmare wasn’t her reality. His arms wrapped around her and lifted her easily to sit on his lap.
Rocking her back and forth, he spoke softly to her. “You can open your eyes, Cindy girl. The nightmare is over. You’re safe here with me.”
She needed to hold on to the man who’d become her life preserver. Clinging to Bullyboo with one hand, Cynthia wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer. She knew this couldn’t last. He wouldn’t be able to make all her poor decisions go away.
“Thank you for being nice to me. I don’t deserve it.” She tried to blink away the tears that swelled in her eyes.
“Everyone deserves someone to care about them. Looks like you lucked into having a lawyer be your someone.”
Gathering her dignity around her like a security blanket, Cynthia resisted his hold to sit up straight. “Why?”
“I’d like to have an easy answer, like I owe Easton a favor. I do, but I’m not motivated to defend simply because of that favor. Something in you calls to me. I need you to be safe, and I don’t trust anyone else to make sure that we get this solved correctly.”
“You’re going to keep me from going to jail?” she asked.
“I’m going to try. I’ll be honest. I don’t know if it’s possible. Even though you were coerced, you did knowingly upload a dangerous bug into the Edgewater Industries mainframe. Without Belinda and Pedro’s expertise, there would have been dire consequences for the company and all the people employed there.”
“I understand. Will you still keep Bullyboo for me? You know, for a few years? I’ll pay rent for a small place for him to sit and look out on the world. He doesn’t enjoy being in my backpack.”
“I will take care of your stuffie. You can pick out a spot for him to wait for you.”
“However long it takes?” she asked, leaning forward.
“However long it takes until you’re reunited. I’ll even see if I can bring him to visit.”
“I’d like that.”
She looked down and then jerked her head back up when seeing his bare chest reminded her of just how hot he was. Why is he bothering with me? As Alicia always said, she was nobody.
“I don’t know what thought just flashed through your mind. Whatever it was, I don’t like it.” His voice sounded harsh for the first time.