Page 108 of Mr. Dangerous

33

Naomi

"How doyou think Rob will feel that you’re back to life outside of Castle Delaney?” Alice's voice was in my ear, as intimate as my own internal voice, since I had my Bluetooth in while I went through the client list in my home office. I was copying down the names of everyone who had mysteriously decided they no longer needed our services. I was going to put things to rights, that morning; they could look me in the face and deny that Rebecca was behind this. I wondered who would tell me thetruth.

I glanced at the clock again. It was just after sunrise. I hadn’t been able to sleep. It would be a while before I could start myrounds.

"He doesn't have to like it," I said. I scratched the cat in my lap behind the ears, until a furry head smooched my chin. "I have worktodo."

"How are you doing?" Aliceasked.

"Should I do my chin-up-buttercup routine with you too or do you want the uglytruth?"

"I hope you know I'm not going to scold you for having complicated feelings about thecomplicatedboy."

"I miss him," I said. Saying the words out loud, flatly, made them feel both real and more manageable. "Isn't that ridiculous? We barely spent any time together, really. And I already feel lonelierwithouthim."

"Aw," Alice said. "You have me. Andthecats."

“You’re right, I know that. I deservebetter.”

“Yeah, you do,” Alice said. “But hearts can be made out of idiotsometimes.”

“That doesn’t even make sense, Alice.” But she had made me smile faintly anyway. My sister always knew how to brighten my mood. When she wasn’t making me crazy. “I have a bunch of errands to run this morning. And then I’m having lunch with Mom and Dad. If you want to provideback-up…”

"Are you going to tell them about what'sgoingon?"

"Which part? The part where I had sex with an inappropriate man without being appropriately married? Or the part where my sex life led to the destruction of a business they spent thirty plus yearsbuilding?"

"You're beingdramatic."

"Well, I get my dramatic fromDad,so..."

"It'll be fine," Alice promised. "They love you, no matter what a swathe of destruction you carve through RhodeIsland."

"You aren't making me feelbetter."

"I'll try again later. I have meetings through lunch, but call me after three if you needtotalk."

"Okay.Loveyou."

"Loveyoutoo."

I hung up with Alice, took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. Conflict of any kind gave me a squishy feeling in my stomach. That was why I’d spent the morning avoiding Rob’s calls; I knew he’d be imperious as always, telling me what I needed to do. I bit down on my lip as my phone rang yet again. But this was a different caller. A formerclient.

"Hi, Naomi," the receptionist said sprightly. "I'm calling from Dr. Z's dentistry. We wondered if we could set up a daily cleaningafter8pm?"

"I can do that for you, absolutely," I said. I felt a sudden sense of lightness. And sure enough, as business hours opened, more calls came in. Our clients werecomingback.

Thank god for that bright spot, because without my phone connection to Alice, I was nervous as hell. I kept jumping every time the windy, rainy day outside caused the branches of the willow tree in the yard to scrape againsttheroof.

A sudden noise in the next room caused me to jump again, snatching my phone out of my pocket. My heart beat out of control. Then two waving white tails appeared in the doorway, just visible over the edge ofmydesk.

"You guys startled me," I scolded the cats, who did not seem remotely apologetic. I scooped them up into my lap, feeling my heart slow again to normal as I stroked their fur. They flopped on top of each other, shameless in their competition forbellyrubs.

There was a distantthump.

The cats were right therewithme.

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