Read Online Lucky Charm by Valerie Douglas - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Valerie Douglas
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peer around the doorway, a smile on her broad face.
One of those behind Miriam added, “Come on, Ariel, it’ll be fun.”
A few of the others chimed in, surprising her with their enthusiasm.
She liked Miriam and at least she wouldn’t be eating alone as she so often did.
“Sure,” Ariel said. “Why not?”
As soon as she walked through the doorway Miriam linked arms with her and grinned. “We’re a bit of a crazy bunch but you’ll get used to us.”
Walking down the steps in front of the office building Ariel thought she caught a glimpse of Matthew across the street but then he disappeared among the crowd. It was probably just her imagination, a private wish to see that mysterious and handsome man again. Even the mere thought of him still sent curls of warmth deep into her belly. It was ridiculous. She’d only known the man for a short time, a brief bout of intimacy. She had to forget about him.
She enjoyed herself at lunch, though and everyone tried to include her in the conversations. If she didn’t know what they were talking about, they would explain. It was all mostly shop-talk, which most of them assumed she didn’t understand. Having spent some time in the industry but especially after training the software for a couple of years, she understood a lot more than they thought. It concerned her that so many seemed to have a background more in marketing than finance. Some of what they told her seemed wrong but there was always the chance Florida had different laws. She tried to ignore the vague feeling of discomfort she felt at some of what she heard. It didn’t sound right.
Then there were the discrepancies she kept finding. Figures that she just couldn’t make match up.
Somehow she’d have to find a way to ask – delicately – for an explanation.
Matt turned on the hot water in the shower. He’d taken a taxi back to this little backwater hotel. It was a kitschy little place but comfortable enough. Small but serviceable, it hadn’t yet succumbed to the need to homogenize to the standard of the big brand hotels. Standing in the old-fashioned bathroom, with a real and separate sink rather than a vanity and shelves for his shaving kit and toothbrush, on old but clean linoleum tiles, he looked at himself in the mirror.
There was a darkening bruise on his cheekbone but surprisingly they’d left his face mostly alone. Why not, when the blows to the body and the Taser had been enough? Gingerly he probed the spot behind his ear where the blackjack had hit him. He had ducked and shifted to pass off some of the force but it was still tender.
Those boys had known exactly what they were doing. If this was how they operated, he could understand how Bill had been taken down but how the medical examiner had missed the marks of the Taser, he didn’t know. Maybe they hadn’t used one with Bill. Times had changed. Bill had settled down, lost his edge. Or tried to let go of it.
A little stiffly but a lot less stiffly than he might have expected thanks to his morning’s activities, Matt stripped off his t-shirt. That was a lot less pretty. Blossoming bruises decorated his ribs, belly and he suspected the same was true for his back, especially over his kidneys. He forced back the memory of the one he’d nicknamed Moe circling around his buddies to pop a shot into them. There’d been no blood in his urine but he suspected that those shots had been carefully placed and nicely judged. Which spoke of experience at the job. It didn’t explain, however, why a finance company needed men like that.
For all that, he didn’t feel nearly as bad as he should have.
In fact, oddly enough, he felt better than he had in ages. There was a strange feeling of contentment, of satiation. He knew it could only come from one place. The exercise that morning, making love, tightening and loosening his muscles. An elfin face rose up in his mind, surrounded by black Irish hair and smiling Irish blue eyes. In that image she
One of those behind Miriam added, “Come on, Ariel, it’ll be fun.”
A few of the others chimed in, surprising her with their enthusiasm.
She liked Miriam and at least she wouldn’t be eating alone as she so often did.
“Sure,” Ariel said. “Why not?”
As soon as she walked through the doorway Miriam linked arms with her and grinned. “We’re a bit of a crazy bunch but you’ll get used to us.”
Walking down the steps in front of the office building Ariel thought she caught a glimpse of Matthew across the street but then he disappeared among the crowd. It was probably just her imagination, a private wish to see that mysterious and handsome man again. Even the mere thought of him still sent curls of warmth deep into her belly. It was ridiculous. She’d only known the man for a short time, a brief bout of intimacy. She had to forget about him.
She enjoyed herself at lunch, though and everyone tried to include her in the conversations. If she didn’t know what they were talking about, they would explain. It was all mostly shop-talk, which most of them assumed she didn’t understand. Having spent some time in the industry but especially after training the software for a couple of years, she understood a lot more than they thought. It concerned her that so many seemed to have a background more in marketing than finance. Some of what they told her seemed wrong but there was always the chance Florida had different laws. She tried to ignore the vague feeling of discomfort she felt at some of what she heard. It didn’t sound right.
Then there were the discrepancies she kept finding. Figures that she just couldn’t make match up.
Somehow she’d have to find a way to ask – delicately – for an explanation.
Matt turned on the hot water in the shower. He’d taken a taxi back to this little backwater hotel. It was a kitschy little place but comfortable enough. Small but serviceable, it hadn’t yet succumbed to the need to homogenize to the standard of the big brand hotels. Standing in the old-fashioned bathroom, with a real and separate sink rather than a vanity and shelves for his shaving kit and toothbrush, on old but clean linoleum tiles, he looked at himself in the mirror.
There was a darkening bruise on his cheekbone but surprisingly they’d left his face mostly alone. Why not, when the blows to the body and the Taser had been enough? Gingerly he probed the spot behind his ear where the blackjack had hit him. He had ducked and shifted to pass off some of the force but it was still tender.
Those boys had known exactly what they were doing. If this was how they operated, he could understand how Bill had been taken down but how the medical examiner had missed the marks of the Taser, he didn’t know. Maybe they hadn’t used one with Bill. Times had changed. Bill had settled down, lost his edge. Or tried to let go of it.
A little stiffly but a lot less stiffly than he might have expected thanks to his morning’s activities, Matt stripped off his t-shirt. That was a lot less pretty. Blossoming bruises decorated his ribs, belly and he suspected the same was true for his back, especially over his kidneys. He forced back the memory of the one he’d nicknamed Moe circling around his buddies to pop a shot into them. There’d been no blood in his urine but he suspected that those shots had been carefully placed and nicely judged. Which spoke of experience at the job. It didn’t explain, however, why a finance company needed men like that.
For all that, he didn’t feel nearly as bad as he should have.
In fact, oddly enough, he felt better than he had in ages. There was a strange feeling of contentment, of satiation. He knew it could only come from one place. The exercise that morning, making love, tightening and loosening his muscles. An elfin face rose up in his mind, surrounded by black Irish hair and smiling Irish blue eyes. In that image she
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