Read Online Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 09 - Romance & Revenge by Laina Turner - Free Book Online Page A

going out on New Years’ would be fun and a good distraction.
    “I say we go. He said Jared could come too so we can all go out and have fun.  I’ll call him when we’re done here,” I said and we walked into the same Starbucks where we had met Sally. I saw someone wave at us and headed to the table in the back where three of the others who worked with Jared were sitting.
    An hour later we walked out and I sighed. “That wasn’t he lpful for anything besides feeding my caffeine addiction. Not a single employee at Sleeping Bear had known anything. Everyone thinks Becky is just great and can’t imagine who would kill her or what she could have argued with Glenda about or who would steal designs. This is hopeless.”
    “Now you sound like Jared.”
    “I feel like Jared.  I’m not exactly making any progress.”
    “Patience and persistence, Pres. I know you’ve got one of those qualities.”
    I smiled because she was right on one count. I had persistence but patience was not at the top of my list of good qualities.
    “ We just need to think. What is this telling us?”
    “That no one at Sleepi ng Bear knows anything,” I said, not understanding where she was going.
    “Exactly!” she said in such a way that made me think she had the answer.  Whatever it was.
    “What do you mean exactly?”
    “Think about it.”
    I was silent for a minute thinking. Trying to figure out what she was getting at and it finally dawned on me.
    “You’re saying since no one from inside Sleeping Bear knows anything, it must be from the outside?”
    She nodded.
    “But what if one of these people is just a really great liar?”
    “That could be but what does your gut say?”
    “But that’s my gut saying they have no idea what’s going on. It’s not proof.”
    “Where to now?” Katy asked.
    “I thought we’d stop and pick up a few things for dinner tonight before heading home. Jared gave me a list. He’s going to make us one of his specialties.”
    “What’s on the menu?”
    “Enchiladas.”
    “Yum. I hope we’re having margaritas with that.”
    “Of course. Another reason to stop at the store. Need more tequila. Maybe that will help us figure this out.”
    I froze in my tracks mid-sentence and Katy bumped into me. “Oops, sorry but you stopped short.”
    I couldn’t trust myself to talk so I just pointed. Ahead of us I could see Cooper.  And he was with a girl. Katy quickly saw what I was pointing at and I could see by the look on her face she didn’t know what to say.
    “ Presley, that could be anyone. Don’t jump to conclusions, she’s probably someone he works with,” Katy said and while I appreciated her attempt at being positive even she didn’t sound all that convincing. “You should go talk to him.”
    I look at her horrified. “Are you nuts? And witness public humiliation in front of that girl.”
    “You’re being silly. They’re probably just friends.”
    “I don’t know. They seem pretty familiar,” I said as a taxi pulled up and he put his hand on the small of her back to guide her in to the car, my stomach clenching as I saw him touch her. “And look at her, she’s gorgeous.” Which she was. Taller than me - she seemed almost as tall as Cooper - with long blond hair, and I could tell she had a nice figure, even underneath the winter coat she had on. She seemed very elegant, classy. In a different league than me. Jealousy welled up inside me.
    “Presley, you won’t know until you ask,” Katy said. “And there are a lot of beautiful girls in the world. It doesn’t mean Cooper wants to date them all.”
    “Why would I ask now, Katy? I called, I left him a message ; he hasn’t called me back and now I see him with another woman. I’m not going to call him again. I’m not stupid or a glutton for punishment,” I said with a lump in my throat, willing myself to not break down and cry.
    “You think Cooper would just start dating someone else and ignore your calls, not giving you the