Read Online Unworthy Heart: The Donnellys, Book 1 by Dorothy F. Shaw - Free Book Online

adjourned not long after, thank God.
    Jodi tugged on Maiya’s shirt. “Come on, we have a date.”
    “Fine, but you’re buying.”
    “No problem.” Jodi walked to the door. “Light a fire under it.”
    Maiya gathered her things. Jodi had no clue how big the fire already burned. “You’re lucky I love you.”
    Maiya leaned back in her seat outside the coffee shop downstairs. The early afternoon sun warmed her skin and the breeze from the passing cars and busses whipped around her.
    Jodi listened while Maiya spilled the goods about what happened two nights ago when he dropped her off from Flanagan’s, and then what happened yesterday evening in the conference room. “And now he wants to take me to dinner.” Maiya took a breath and sipped her coffee.
    “Are you going to go? I think you should go.”
    “I don’t know. I’m all in my head about it. I can’t afford to get strung out on a guy. Especially one from work.”
    “Its just dinner.” Jodi shrugged. “Use it as an opportunity to…I dunno, get to know him better.”
    “Maybe.” Maiya looked at her watch. Almost noon. Plenty of time to decide still. “I’ll think about it and decide later.”
    “Good plan.” Jodi ran her fingers through her blonde hair. “Ready to go back?”
    “Sure.” Maiya tossed her coffee cup in the nearby trashcan. Her anxiety had eased, at least a little, getting the mess off her chest. “I think you smoked yourself into oblivion.”
    Jodi looped her arm with Maiya’s. “Hey, if you’re gonna do it, might as well do it right. Right?”
    “Thanks, Jodi. I needed this.”
    “Anytime, girl. You know I love ya.”
    Maiya nudged Jodi’s hip with her own. “I love you too, sweetie.”
    When Maiya got to her office, she shut her door and set to get work done. She was determined to salvage some part of this workday, even if she had to stay hidden in her office for the rest of it.

Chapter Nine
    At the end of the day, Ryan approached Maiya’s office. He lingered outside the closed door for a moment and listened for voices. Nothing but silence. Good, she was alone. He inhaled and rolled his head on his shoulders. When he heard and felt the loud pop of bones in his neck, he let out his breath.
    Leaning toward the door a little closer, he listened again. This time, he heard her voice. After a soft knock on the door, he opened it. She was facing the window. A quick glance around showed there was no one else in the office with her. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
    “No, Mom.” She ran her hand through her hair. “No, I’m not doing that. Please, stop asking.”
    He cleared his throat, and she whipped around in the chair. He mouthed a “hello,” and shrugged one shoulder. He hadn’t meant to intrude.
    She rolled her eyes. “I have to go. No. Yes. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She hung up the receiver and stared at the phone. “You ever notice how many buttons we have on these things? What’re they all for?” She shook her head, and then looked up at him.
    “You okay, Maiya?”
    “Yep, fine.” She nodded and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. The same mask she’d shown him yesterday in the conference room slid into place.
    He sat in one of the two chairs positioned in front of the desk. “Okay.”
    “Please, have a seat.” She snorted, folded her arms on the desk and leaned forward.
    He smirked and leaned forward too. “Thanks, very kind of you to offer.”
    Palpable tension bounced between them. He watched her face. The little quirk of her lips. The angle she held her head. Maiya fascinated him. They sized each other up, for how long he wasn’t sure. In truth it didn’t matter. He was too caught up with the wonder of what she might be thinking right then.
    Without another thought, Ryan reached across the desk, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her toward him. He kissed her, open-mouthed, stroking over her lips with his tongue, granting her no mercy and no time to pull away.
    She