Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 134212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 671(@200wpm)___ 537(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 671(@200wpm)___ 537(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
As I ride down, I puff out air and drag it back in again, filling my lungs with confidence. And perhaps the strength I need to be honest with Luke Williamson and tell him I’m not a flake, that I do intend to pay him, but . . . well, what can I say? God, how I hate this additional layer of humiliation.
The doors part, and I quickly straighten my shirt and step out of the elevator, my shoulders pushed back. And like my eyes sense exactly where to find him, they home in on one of the eight couches lining the reception area.
He looks up, smiles, lifting a hand in hello. I smile back, and he stands, taking measured, long strides, until he comes to a stop a good few meters away. “This is as far as I can come,” he says.
For a moment, I wonder what he means by that, but then I follow his outstretched arm to the barriers that separate the elevators from the rest of the reception area.
“Oh.” I reach to the belt hoop on my trousers, pulling my access card to full length on the retractable cord. Presenting it to the scanner, I wait for the waist-high glass screen to slide across. “Hi,” I say, passing through and slowing to a standstill a couple of paces away from him. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh.” He reaches into his inside pocket and pulls something out. “You left these in my car.”
“My gloves.” So that’s where they went. I roll my eyes and take them. “Thank you. How do you know where I work, Luke?”
“You remembered my name?”
I point to a camera above my head. “You’re suddenly everywhere.”
He looks up, smiling. “Oh, so I am.” Dropping his eyes, but keeping his head tilted back, he grins, and just the mere sight of it pulls a grin from me too. It has a cheeky, mischievous edge. “I own a small security firm.”
“Small?” I laugh. “How modest of you.”
“I don’t like boasters.” He winks, making me laugh once again.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
His eyebrows pinch. I ignore the fact that he looks quite adorable when he does that, his manliness turning boyish. For the first time, I wonder how old he is. Late thirties, maybe? Early forties? “What was your question?” he asks.
“How did you know where I work?”
“Ah, that’s easy. You gave your work details to the lady at the vet. How’s Boris, by the way?”
Of course. And there was me thinking he couldn’t find me. “He’s good. They think it’s epilepsy but with the right medication he should be fine. I’m picking him up later this evening.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Me too,” I say, smiling. “Listen, I was actually just emailing you.”
“What for?”
I feel my cheeks fill with blood, but I’m also frowning. “Well, about the money I owe you.”
He huffs, waving his hand flippantly. “Don’t worry about it.”
Is he serious? “No, Luke, I want to pay you back,” I insist, standing my ground. He must be mad. He hadn’t known me for five minutes before he was pulling out his black AMEX. “Every penny. You didn’t ask for any of what happened last night.”
“Oh, yes, I did.”
I slowly shake my head as he starts to slowly nod his, a tiny smirk forming on his face. “How?” I ask.
“Well, by day I run a security firm. By night I skulk around London in my mask and cape rescuing women. Just call me the caped crusader.” He grins, and I laugh lightly, now shaking my head in bewilderment.
“I’ll email you for your bank details so I can transfer the money I owe you. It might be a few weeks or so, but I’ll make sure you get every penny.”
“If it makes you happy.”
“It does.”
“I’ll have my lawyer draw up a payment plan,” he says, his perfect white teeth sinking into his bottom lip, and I shoot him a startled look. He’s doing that to stop himself from smiling.
“You’re messing with me.” I roll my eyes. He’s quite the comedian.
“Of course I’m messing with you.” He smiles brightly, nearly blinding me. “I didn’t come here to talk about the money. I just wanted to return your gloves and make sure Boris was okay.”
“Well, you’ve done both of those things.” I wave my gloves at him. “And again, thank you for being a knight in shining armor. I really appreciate your help.”
“No problem.”
Luke doesn’t realize the half of it. He will never know how much he really saved me. Because in that moment in time, when his car was coasting toward me, death seemed like the easiest way out of my hell-hole of a life. Thank God for his driving skills. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Of course.” He looks down at his expensive watch. “Shit, I’d better be running too.” He turns on his heel and darts off across the lobby, looking over his shoulder. “See ya, Lo.”