Page 34 of Fraud
This was what I’d wanted.
This was what I’d hoped to accomplish today.
Adjusting my view, I pulled out my phone and found a bench to sit on. I could still see her, but thanks to the several cars separating us, I was fairly confident she couldn’t see me.
Keeping up pretenses, I’d periodically look down at my phone, punch a couple of keys, and pull up an app, making it appear as if I were any other normal American killing time on his mobile device.
But, secretly, I was watching her, noticing the intensity in her expression as she worked and the way she’d close her eyes, as if she were actually living the words she typed. As her teeth bit down over her bottom lip, I found myself leaning forward in anticipation, wondering what fantasy was being played out in her head.
Was it twisted? Was it dirty?
Maybe a little of both.
Growing up, I was a huge Stephen King fan. I’d sit alone in my room, late at night, with nothing but a book and a flashlight to keep me company. With the covers piled over my head, I would travel into the demented mind of a legend and wonder how he had done it.
How could one person dream up a hundred lifetimes of stories?
Now that I was witnessing it from someone with such a raw gift, I couldn’t help but be a little fascinated by it.
And a little turned on.
I couldn’t help what I did next.
The moment the car door opened, signaling the end of her thirty-minute break, I bolted, like a magnet was pulling me toward her.
So stupid, I told myself seconds before I called out her name.
“Kate!” I yelled.
Startled, she turned, a firm grip on the black laptop bag. “Killian?” The initial scare melted into a kind of puzzlement across her features as she tried to place me in her surroundings. She was in another suit today, similar to the one she’d been wearing when we first met.
It was boxy and boring and did little to accentuate the curvy body I knew she had.
“Sorry, I know this is weird,” I said before elaborating, “Me showing up at your work.”
She nodded. “Kind of.”
Although her words were curt, I couldn’t help but notice the faint pink glow that colored her cheeks.
She was happy to see me.
Or at least, pleased.
At any rate, I proceeded, “You spoke so highly of this place last night, I had to check it out. It’s been a long time since I roamed a college campus.”
The background story I’d fed to her was that I was a new transplant to the area, having moved here from New York. I’d gone with the less-is-more strategy as far as lies went. The less I told, the more likely I was going to succeed and not get my ass stuck in an awkward situation.
“And what do you think?” she asked, her curious gaze finding mine.
Several girls walked by just then, backpacks on their shoulders, as weekend plans were tossed around. The second I turned, all talking ceased. High-pitched giggling broke out the moment they were out of range.
“It’s…interesting.” I chuckled. “Maybe not the best place to begin my employment search.”
“You’d definitely be a hit with the coeds.” She laughed before continuing, “You’ll have to excuse them though. Most of the men on this campus are either still working on their facial hair or going bald. They don’t often see someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
Her cheeks reddened. “Someone so handsome.”
