later to compare notes.” His smile changed, suddenly saturated with sexual intent. “Let me take you to dinner so we can get to know each other better.”
Toni swallowed hard. God, he was good. Even knowing that his hot look was calculated to make her melt and manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted, she was tempted to say yes.
To dinner, to Ethan, to the amazing, headboard-knocking sex that would no doubt come after. That she was so sorely tempted was enough reason to turn tail and run, even if Marcy had told her to keep an eye on him.
“I’m sorry, Ethan, but as you’ve probably already guessed, I work much better alone.”
Before he could stop her, she slid into her car and closed the door, not caring if his fingers made it to safety or not. As she drove away, she could see him staring after her through the rearview mirror, his expression one of amusement mixed with annoyance. God, she hated that he always seemed on the verge of laughing at her. Reminding herself that she didn’t give a crap about Ethan Taggart and what he thought of her, she stuck her hand out the window for a final wave before she pulled out onto the street.
C HAPTER 4
T ONI SIGHED AND took a gulp from the glass of ice water next to her laptop. She squirmed in her seat as a bead of sweat trickled down her rib cage. Her air-conditioning had been on the fritz for the past week, and Mrs. Arroyo said it would be at least another week until it would be repaired. There was nothing to do but suffer through it. For the rent she was paying, Toni was lucky to have A/C at all, and she figured if her tiny Filipino building manager and four children could survive the heat of their cramped apartment, so could Toni. At least she had a fan to move the hot air from one end of the room to the other.
What she wouldn’t give for a cool Seattle summer rain. She thought wistfully back to the adorable flat she’d had in an old Victorian in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood. She remembered how she’d love to curl up on the window seat of the big bay window in her living room and sip a cup of coffee while admiring the view of the Cascades.
Instead, she was spending yet another sweltering afternoon in her home office, such as it was. It was Sunday afternoon, and Kara was still gone. The multiple text messages Toni had sent had gone unanswered, and Marcy hadn’t heard anything, either.
Toni had spent most of yesterday and this morning poring over the messages posted to the V-Club, the online community Kara and her friends had set up on FacePlace. Though it offered some insight into the pressures teenage girls faced when it came to sex, as far as giving any clues as to where Kara was, it was a bust. There had been a few responses to Toni’s message, but no real information. And so far, Toni could find no evidence of the double life Laurie Friedland had alluded to.
The only bright note was that Kara had posted again late last night. The message was as vague as the last, assuring everyone she was fine but containing no details.
Toni had checked the source IP address. The last two messages had been posted from Kara’s computer. So why was her spidey-sense on high alert, sensing something off about the last two messages? Why couldn’t she buy the notion that Kara was holed up somewhere with a friend and posting messages to let everyone know she was okay?
Toni contacted several members of the V-Club individually. With over three hundred members, many of them living out of state, Toni had focused on the most active members who lived closest to Northern California. None of whom knew anything.
Toni looked at the phone sitting on her desk, willing it to play a snippet from “Wish You Were Here,” signifying the arrival of a text message from Kara.
Nothing.
For now, Toni was stuck slogging through a long debate among V-Club members about whether a girl who’d had anal sex could still be a member of the V-Club. There were a lot of strong
Toni swallowed hard. God, he was good. Even knowing that his hot look was calculated to make her melt and manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted, she was tempted to say yes.
To dinner, to Ethan, to the amazing, headboard-knocking sex that would no doubt come after. That she was so sorely tempted was enough reason to turn tail and run, even if Marcy had told her to keep an eye on him.
“I’m sorry, Ethan, but as you’ve probably already guessed, I work much better alone.”
Before he could stop her, she slid into her car and closed the door, not caring if his fingers made it to safety or not. As she drove away, she could see him staring after her through the rearview mirror, his expression one of amusement mixed with annoyance. God, she hated that he always seemed on the verge of laughing at her. Reminding herself that she didn’t give a crap about Ethan Taggart and what he thought of her, she stuck her hand out the window for a final wave before she pulled out onto the street.
C HAPTER 4
T ONI SIGHED AND took a gulp from the glass of ice water next to her laptop. She squirmed in her seat as a bead of sweat trickled down her rib cage. Her air-conditioning had been on the fritz for the past week, and Mrs. Arroyo said it would be at least another week until it would be repaired. There was nothing to do but suffer through it. For the rent she was paying, Toni was lucky to have A/C at all, and she figured if her tiny Filipino building manager and four children could survive the heat of their cramped apartment, so could Toni. At least she had a fan to move the hot air from one end of the room to the other.
What she wouldn’t give for a cool Seattle summer rain. She thought wistfully back to the adorable flat she’d had in an old Victorian in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood. She remembered how she’d love to curl up on the window seat of the big bay window in her living room and sip a cup of coffee while admiring the view of the Cascades.
Instead, she was spending yet another sweltering afternoon in her home office, such as it was. It was Sunday afternoon, and Kara was still gone. The multiple text messages Toni had sent had gone unanswered, and Marcy hadn’t heard anything, either.
Toni had spent most of yesterday and this morning poring over the messages posted to the V-Club, the online community Kara and her friends had set up on FacePlace. Though it offered some insight into the pressures teenage girls faced when it came to sex, as far as giving any clues as to where Kara was, it was a bust. There had been a few responses to Toni’s message, but no real information. And so far, Toni could find no evidence of the double life Laurie Friedland had alluded to.
The only bright note was that Kara had posted again late last night. The message was as vague as the last, assuring everyone she was fine but containing no details.
Toni had checked the source IP address. The last two messages had been posted from Kara’s computer. So why was her spidey-sense on high alert, sensing something off about the last two messages? Why couldn’t she buy the notion that Kara was holed up somewhere with a friend and posting messages to let everyone know she was okay?
Toni contacted several members of the V-Club individually. With over three hundred members, many of them living out of state, Toni had focused on the most active members who lived closest to Northern California. None of whom knew anything.
Toni looked at the phone sitting on her desk, willing it to play a snippet from “Wish You Were Here,” signifying the arrival of a text message from Kara.
Nothing.
For now, Toni was stuck slogging through a long debate among V-Club members about whether a girl who’d had anal sex could still be a member of the V-Club. There were a lot of strong
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