Read Online Out of the Shadows by Loree Lough - Free Book Online Page A

worried frown, she laughed softly. “You didn’t by any chance sell used cars to pay your way through school, did you?”
    “No….”
    “Sell encyclopedias door to door?”
    He looked puzzled.
    “Work on the set of a Mafia movie?”
    He shook his head. “Why?”
    “’Cause you give a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘make ’em an offer they can’t refuse.”’
    His laughter echoed in the marble-floored lobby, drawing the attention of the security guard and a taxi driver who waited for his fare to arrive. But Wade didn’tseem to notice the curious stares following them as they entered the cafeteria.
    Patrice slid into a booth, put her briefcase and purse on the bench beside her. “Maybe we ought to get in line.”
    “You stay here and guard our table. I’ll be right back.”
    “Okay. I’ll have an egg sandwich and coffee.”
    She watched him slide his red plastic tray along the polished chrome rails, pointing to toast and eggs and bacon as he passed the food stations. When he disappeared behind other cafeteria patrons, she craned her neck to find him in the crowd, and when at last she spotted him at the coffee urn, her heart pounded.
    She couldn’t very well let him catch her staring after him like some schoolgirl in the throes of a mad crush. Patrice rooted around in her purse and withdrew her compact to make sure the wind hadn’t blown the hair from her face, exposing the scar. What she saw in the tiny, oval mirror surprised her; in place of the expected “you’re sinking fast” symptoms, was a relaxed, friendly smile.
    “You don’t need that thing,” Wade said, startling her. “You’re gorgeous, exactly the way you are.”
    Snapping the compact shut, she dropped it back into her purse. He’d meant every word, as evidenced by the set of his jaw, the sincerity in his eyes. Pulse pounding, Patrice blinked. What was a girl supposed to say in response to a thing like that?
    Three soft gongs pealed from the overhead speaker. “Housekeeping to the cafeteria,” said the practiced announcer’s voice. “Housekeeping to the cafeteria.”
    Whew, she thought, grinning as he doled out the food, saved by the bell.
    He bit the corner from a slice of toast. “So where’s Mort?”
    Pointing at her briefcase, Patrice sipped her coffee.
    “Interesting animal,” he said. “Where’d you buy him?”
    “I made him.”
    His brows rose slightly and he stopped chewing. “You made him? But how?”
    She shrugged. “Couple yards of fuzzy material, foam filling, couple of chopsticks, and—”
    “Chopsticks?”
    “For his arms and legs.” She bent her own arm. “I connected them with some stainless steel swivel-y things I found at the hardware store.”
    “Fascinating.”
    And he meant it. She could tell by the admiring gleam in his eyes.
    “How’d you learn to operate all those hairy limbs?”
    Another shrug. “Trial and error, mostly. The good Lord was watching over those first few kids who met Mort.”
    His brows rose again. “Why?”
    “Did your mother ever say to you ‘You could poke an eye out with one of those!’?”
    Wade nodded. “Yeah.” He grinned.
    “Well, let me tell you,” she said, hiding a giggle behind one hand, “that warning echoed in my head those first few performances!”
    He laughed.
    Already, she loved the sound. Her father’s warning leapt to her mind, and Patrice sat up straighter. Forefinger peeling back her cuff, she glanced at her watch. “Wow,” she said, “I’d better get a move on.”
    He used a white plastic fork as a pointer. “But you haven’t finished your egg sandwich.”
    The disappointment in his voice was evident. “I’ll just take it with me,” she said, wrapping it in a paper napkin. “There’s a fridge in the hall, right outside my office door—”
    “Patrice,” he said softly, taking her hand, “relax.”
    Oh, right, she thought. Relax, with his big palm covering her fingers like a warm blanket.
    “You keep up this pace, you’re gonna