Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
“Where do you want to eat?”
“Anywhere is fine. I need to be back in forty-five minutes.”
Nodding, he pulled out of his parking spot. “I can do that. How’s the new job going?”
Feeling her surprised glance at his choice of topic, he kept his attention on driving as she started chatting about working in the file room.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better person to train me. Glenda doesn’t get frustrated when I make a mistake. There isn’t anything she doesn’t know about the files, either. I bet Mr. Hollingsworth cried when she put in for retirement.”
“Doubtful. You’ll have to work at Hollingsworth several years to build up to Glenda’s paygrade. Garrett filled her position with someone who is a conscientious employee at a lower cost to the firm.”
“Cynical much?”
Chuckling, he turned into a parking lot. Instead of parking, though, he went through the drive-thru.
“What would you like?”
“I’m not that hungry. I’ll just take an ice caramel roadrunner.”
“Nice,” he commented before turning back to the screen. “Give me an iced caramel roadrunner, two burritos, a large fries, and iced mocha roadrunner.”
“I haven’t tried the mocha roadrunner.”
“It has three shots of expresso.”
Her face lit up with laughter. “I see why it’s named the roadrunner.”
Taking the drinks from the worker at the window, he gave Sage’s her’s while he set his in the cupholder.
“You two having a good day?” the male worker asked cheerfully.
“I am.”
“Yes,” Sage mumbled, taking a sip of her drink.
Noticing Sage was keeping her face turned away as he took the bag of food, he pulled forward to park in a shady spot.
He took out one of the burritos and handed it to her. “Want to share? There’s no way I can eat both of these.”
“Then why did you order two?”
“I decided I didn’t want to exercise two burritos off when I go to the gym tonight.” Unwrapping the other burrito, he placed the fries where they both could eat them. “Help yourself.”
“I hate going to the gym,” he continued, “depending on how bad I eat during the day.”
“I’m the opposite.” Turning more comfortably in her seat, she started eating. “I’d rather avoid eating foods that are going to make me feel guilty.”
Surreptitiously watching as she took two fries and slid them into her mouth, he was glad she was putting food in her stomach. With the bruise on her face and her arm bandaged, the frailty of her appearance had struck him hard when she walked through the office door.
“Ahh … but then, you miss the pleasure of giving in to temptation.”
“Maybe …” she countered. “But then, I don’t have to punish myself with regrets. That’s how I can go home and relax without having to go to the gym.”
Bunching the empty burrito paper, he threw it away in the empty bag. “Are you finished with the fries?” he asked when she placed her empty burrito wrapper in the bag.
“Yes. Thank you for sharing your lunch with me.”
“You’re welcome.” Instead of starting the car, he laid a gentle finger on her bandaged hand. “What happened, Sage?”
TWENTY-ONE
“Iwas mugged last night.”
“Tell me what happened,” he prodded carefully, needing details. “Where and when?”
For a second, he thought she wouldn’t talk about what must have been a frightening experience.
“After work, I went to Smart Shopper to do my weekly grocery shopping. I was coming out of the store at six. I was closing my trunk when the person who mugged me pushed me against the back of my car.”
Keeping his hand on hers, he listened to the matter-of-fact way she described being mugged. If he weren’t able to see the shadows of fear that hadn’t been there before she started talking, he would have missed them.
Lifting his hand, he cupped her face. “Did he hit you?”
“No, my face was hurt when he pushed me against the car.”
From the bruising evident on her face, the punk had slammed, not pushed, her against the car. Kent’s blood boiled at the unnecessary violence against Sage.
“How was your arm hurt?”
A grimace crossed her face at the memory. “When he jerked my arm behind my back to get my purse off my shoulder, he saw my watch. I shouldn’t have fought him back, but I didn’t want him to take it. The watch had sentimental value. I had just gotten it back the day before.”
“Where did you get it back from? Did you lend it to someone?”
“No …” she hesitated briefly. “I had pawned it. My mother left my sister, Glory, her engagement ring and me her Piaget watch my father had given her for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.”
“That’s pretty sentimental. I wouldn’t have handed it over, either, but it wasn’t a smart move.”
“Tell me about it,” she said ruefully.
“Did he do anything else?”
“No. Thankfully, he took off. A couple saw something was wrong and called the police.”
“Do you remember the officer’s name?”