Every night since, when she tucked her baby in bed, she reminded herself of those promises and prayed that keeping them would get easier with time.
Chapter 7
Barbara slept very little that night, which used to be normal. In the last year, however, she had rediscovered the pleasure of deep sleep and resented giving it up again.
With concentrated effort, she was able to stop thinking about Russ and Decker by the time she pulled into the parking garage of the high-rise building in Richmond where she worked.
She really enjoyed her job as customer service rep for the bank that owned the building and filled the first three floors. Her supervisor and coworkers were easy to get along with, the pay was good, she was able to work hours that coincided with Matt's school day and best of all, she was able to help people with their problems.
One of the benefits was a very affordable cafeteria on the fourth floor, where most of the employees in the building had lunch. Each morning, she had a cup of coffee and a doughnut with the same group of women, but occasionally, as happened that day, someone new sat down with them.
"Hi. Mind if I join you? I hate sitting alone."
Barbara looked up and smiled at the young woman. "Not at all." She pushed aside a twinge of envy as the newcomer set down her low-fat yogurt and apple juice. Not only was the girl barely out of her teens, she had very long, silky blond hair, high cheekbones, vivid green eyes with an exotic slant to them, a figure to die for and the height to carry it. Barbara disliked her on sight and from the expressions on her friends' faces, so did they.
"I'm Barbara. This is Nellie, Ann Marie and Karen. We work downstairs."
The much-too-pretty creature gave each of their hands a brief, firm shake before sitting down. "I'm Tammy Garrett and I work upstairs, for the insurance company. I really hope you don't mind my joining you. People hardly ever come up and talk to me, so I make it a practice to go to them. I try to meet someone new every day."
Good grief, Barbara thought listening to her perky, slightly accented tone. She didn't know they had valley girls in Virginia. "I don't think we've seen you before. Are you new?"
"Oh, no," she said, flipping her hair back over her shoulder with a sexy toss of her head. "I've been there for almost a year, but they just changed me from the evening to the day shift. I'm willing to give it a try, but I'm not too crazy about getting up before noon."
"None of us are, honey," Nellie said and everyone laughed.
At lunch, Barbara saw Tammy eating alone and recalled her comment about people not walking up to her. She supposed being that beautiful could be a curse when it came to making female friends. When Tammy waved a greeting, Barbara felt obliged to sit with her.
"I was hoping this was your lunchtime," Tammy gushed with a big smile. "You were so nice this morning. Really made me feel welcome. I know you're not going to believe this but some women just seem to hate me on sight. They don't even try to get to know me."
Barbara opted for the honest route. "I'm not all that surprised. A woman would have to have tremendous self-confidence to be your friend."
Tammy's cheerful expression faded. "You mean because of what I look like, don't you?" She gave that less than three seconds of thought. "Oh, well. If a person can't see past what's on my outside, I don't think I want them as a friend anyway."
Barbara smiled. "Good attitude."
"So, I guess that means you must have a lot of self-confidence, huh?"
"Nah. I'm just a masochist."
Laughing, Tammy said, "Then I'll be sure to look my most drop-dead gorgeous every day so you'll become the best friend I ever had!"
With the largest obstacle between them reduced to a joke, the two women spent the rest of their lunch hour getting to know each other. Barbara told her the story she had used since arriving in Virginia: that she and her son had moved there from Seattle after her divorce to be close to her aging parents, who live in Richmond.
Tammy was intrigued by the idea of moving across the country. She had been born in Richmond twenty-two years ago and the only place she'd ever gone was to Washington, D.C. Her boyfriend, Michael, kept promising to take her to Disney World in Florida, but something always came up to postpone it. Sometimes she suspected that he didn't like taking her out in public at all.
"What about you?" Tammy asked. "Have you got a man that drives you nuts most of the time?"
Barbara smiled and gave another standard answer. "No way. After my ex, I swore off men entirely. Except for Matthew, of course, and the most annoying thing about him is that he's growing up too fast."
An hour later, Barbara was back at her desk talking on the phone, when she got a funny feeling that she was being stared at. Over the years she had learned to pay attention to her intuition. After all, had she listened to it with regard to Russ, her life would certainly be a lot different today.
She tried to maintain a casual appearance as she raised her eyes, then slowly swiveled her chair around. One or two customers caught her gaze but the sensation wasn't being caused by them, or anyone else in view.
Continuing to scan the lobby area, she quickly completed her call then let the receptionist know she was taking a break. She went the longest possible route to the ladies' room, peering down hallways, out into the parking lot, even inside the janitor's closet. She even asked the security guard to go into the men's room for her, but no one fitting Russ's description was anywhere around.
She had more or less dispelled the uneasiness when, while driving home, it came back again. Her senses told her someone was following her, but in the midst of rush-hour traffic on the expressway, it was impossible to confirm. As she exited, she kept an eye on her rearview mirror and made note of which cars were behind her. She purposely made several unnecessary turns and stopped for milk at a convenience store to see if she could single out one car that stayed with her. Again, her intuition seemed to have failed. Though she remained cautious, she gave up looking for a shadow and went on to Matt's school.
The next morning on the way out the door, the feeling returned and stayed with her all the way to work, but as before, there seemed to be no reason for it.
Was it paranoia causing her to imagine things or could Russ have changed his methods from direct assault to hide-and-seek? Either way, her nerves were being strung tighter by the hour.
Though she and Tammy had very little in common, the girl was funny and helped keep her mind off Russ, so Barbara welcomed the company at lunch again. By the end of the week their noon meeting had become part of her workday routine.
"We ought to go out together tonight," Tammy suggested before they went back to work Friday afternoon. "There's a super club I go to whenever I get mad at Michael. The music's mostly alternative and the men aren't too young or too old."
"I'm sorry. I really don't like to go out at night. That's the time I spend with my son."
"Well, maybe I could drive up to your place sometime this weekend and we could just, sort of, you know, hang out. I'd like to meet Matthew after all the great things you've said about him."
Barbara hedged. "I honestly don't know what I'll be doing this weekend. Between catching up on the housework and laundry, my son and my parents..."
"Oh," Tammy murmured, rejection clouding her eyes.
"I'll tell you what. Give me your phone number and I'll call if I've got some free time."
Tammy brightened instantly and wrote her number on a paper napkin. "And yours?" she asked with her pen poised over another napkin.
Barbara didn't like giving her number out, but it would have been terribly rude not to after she'd asked for Tammy's first. She told her the number then had to rush back to her desk.
She felt somewhat guilty for having lied to Tammy about that night. The truth was, Matthew would be happy to spend the night at his best friend Kenny's house, as he sometimes did on Fridays. She could have gone out if she'd wanted to. She simply had no interest in the singles scene. Had Tammy suggested dinner and a movie, her answer mig
ht have been different.
Then again, she couldn't dismiss the probability that Russ was about to make an appearance and she didn't want to be parted from Matt any more than necessary. Three full days and nights had passed since the delivery of the roses, yet he hadn't shown up, nor had he called or sent anything else. The absence of a follow-up was making her more nervous than his usual methods of harassment. What in God's name was he up to this time?
As she cleared her desk at the end of the day, she couldn't help but think of what a strange week she'd had. All things considered, meeting Tammy was probably the high point. Perhaps she should call and invite her up to Fredericksburg tomorrow.
Still contemplating that idea as she entered the parking garage, she didn't notice the boy running toward her in the hooded sweatshirt until he was practically on top of her. Then it was too late.
In a flurry of movement, he slammed into her, knocking them both to the concrete floor. Then he grabbed her purse and was running off again in the blink of an eye.
There were a number of people in the garage but it happened too fast for anyone to react-—except for one man who had been getting out of his car a good distance down the row when the mugging occurred. He shouted at the boy as he flew by, then he took off after the thief on foot.
Within seconds, a dozen people hovered around Barbara, helping her up, asking if she wanted the police or an ambulance. She insisted she was only stunned and was debating if it was worth spending several hours to report the incident.
After the initial shock, she thought of what was in that purse. She wondered if Russ could have paid someone to mug her just so he could get the keys to her house. Though that wasn't his usual way of doing things, she wouldn't put anything past him.
She was thinking of the problems she was going to have replacing all the items in her purse when it was suddenly handed to her.
Immediately the crowd's attention turned to the heroic man who had chased down the purse snatcher, recovered the loot and was now bent over at the waist, gasping for air.
"He... dropped the purse... when... he realized I was right behind him. He got away, though." He straightened up, took one long deep breath which seemed to help then addressed Barbara. "The parking attendant called the police. Are you all right?"
She was completely overwhelmed by his bravery. Looking up at him with open admiration, she said, "Yes. I'm fine. I can't believe you did that. How can I thank you?"
He smiled and showed off the most perfect white teeth she'd ever seen. "No thanks needed. If I had stopped to think what I was doing, I probably would have chickened out." He combed his fingers through his dark, slightly wavy hair to push it away from his face. Though it appeared to be professionally styled, his hair was thoroughly mussed from the run. It was also too long for a man over thirty wearing a business suit, yet looked unbelievably good anyway.
Since it was impossible to guess how much time it would take for the police to arrive, she needed to make arrangements for Matt. As usual, she was unable to get a signal for her cell in the garage. She told one of the witnesses who'd agreed to stay that she had to make a phone call, but would be right back. As she walked into the building, she felt as though she was being followed and glanced back to see her hero coming up behind her.
"I need to make a call also," he explained. "There's no way I'll make my five o'clock appointment. Would you mind guiding me to a telephone I can use?"
"Sure. Follow me."
He waited a polite distance away while she called Laura French, Kenny's mother. She asked her to pick up Matthew and keep him at her house until she could get there then called the school to let them know that Matt could go home with Mrs. French.
Her hero asked her to wait for him while he made his brief call telling someone he had to postpone their appointment until Monday. Now that Matthew was taken care of, she was in no hurry to go anywhere. Under the bright fluorescent lights the man in front of her was even more striking than he had appeared in the dimly lit garage. His suit looked custom-made, but then he had the kind of tall, lean build that wore a suit well. She guessed he was between thirty and thirty-five and probably jogged for exercise. He hung up and offered her his hand.
"We haven't actually met. I'm Kyle Trent."
Taking his hand, she was unexpectedly stricken by the sensuality of his touch. She met his gaze and felt another stab of awareness. Good Lord, she hadn't been able to see his eyes in the garage. They were faded denim blue, and they were saying outrageously sexy things to her. "Barbara Ma—Johnson." How could she forget her name? She felt his hand slide away from hers and the tingling left behind gave her the answer. It had been a very long time but having experienced a severe chemical reaction once before in her life was enough to recognize the symptoms. "We should go back."
He let her lead but she sensed him behind her the whole time, just as she had on the way in. Chemistry was a very interesting thing. Unfortunately, for her it was also a very dangerous thing.
While the statements were being taken by the police, Barbara had to consciously work at keeping her gaze from drifting back to him. She knew she should steer clear, yet she felt there had to be some way to properly show her appreciation. "Mr. Trent? I can't thank you enough for what you did. I've been standing here thinking of how I would have had to get a locksmith to get into my car, all my identification would have had to be replaced, to say nothing of my paycheck. I wonder if you'd allow me to buy you a drink or a cup of coffee... something to let me feel like I repaid you in some way."
His mouth curved into a slow grin and his eyes made a naughty suggestion... or was that coming from inside her own head?
"A drink would be very nice. I just moved here from St. Louis. Is there someplace nearby?"
She hadn't thought beyond her invitation. The only place she knew of was a restaurant a few blocks away where her coworkers had taken her for her thirtieth birthday last year. She remembered it having a bar. "Do you mind walking a little?"
He laughed. "Walking's fine. These shoes just weren't made for running."
She looked down at his loafers. They looked as expensive as his suit and haircut. She hoped he was rich. That would turn off her hormones in a heartbeat. As he got his trench coat out of his late-model sedan, she said, "I'm a customer service rep in the bank. What do you do, Mr. Trent?"
"Please call me Kyle. I work for IBM. Actually, I was a service rep too, before I got into sales. I was just promoted to regional sales manager."
"Does a car come with that kind of job?"
"That's one of the benefits. Save's me the cost of owning one."
Okay, so he's not rich like Howard. He wears good clothes because he's in sales. What else?
"The other good thing about the job is I can pretty much make my own hours."
Aha, another bum like Russ. Doesn't like to work.
"The problem with that is I always end up putting in more than forty hours a week because no one tells me when to start and stop."
There's got to be something wrong with this guy. "That must drive your wife up a wall."
He gave her another one of those slow grins. "No wife. No ex-wives. No fiancées or steady companions. No children, legitimate or otherwise. And yes, I am one hundred percent heterosexual."
She felt her cheeks flush. "I'm sorry. I was being nosy."
"Actually, I was trying to figure out how to bring it up. Your interview method is quite impressive. Now it's your turn."
Relief that he wasn't annoyed made her giggle. "I'm single and like that status. Just one ex-husband and a nine-year-old son."
"Good. Then let's have dinner with our drinks."
She was tempted. "I'm sorry. I can't. Not that I wouldn't be pleased to buy you dinner after what you did for me. But I promised to pick up my son by..." She glanced at her watch. "By seven, in Fredericksburg. That's about a forty-five-minute drive, and—"
"It's all right. I got the point. Let's see if we can stand each other through a drink first. W
e can work up to an entire meal later."
His tone was teasing, not angry, over her clumsy rejection. He had to have some fault she could focus on to stop this train before it picked up more steam. If she had learned one important lesson in life, it was that she could never trust her feelings when it came to men.
* * *
"I swear to God, man, this crazy dude tackled me and stole the purse back! Look at my fuckin' cheek, man. You think I threw myself down on the sidewalk for the hell of it?"
Russ relaxed his grip on the kid's skinny throat, then shoved him against the concrete wall. "Get the fuck away from me."
"What about my pay, man? You said—"
Russ delivered a hard punch to the kid's diaphragm. "There's your pay, asshole. You're lucky I don't make you give back what you got up front. Now get lost."
The kid wasted no time following his order as Russ headed in the opposite direction. After a moment, Russ allowed himself a chuckle over the screw-up. He could hardly wait to throw it in his partner's I've-got-every-detail-perfectly-planned face.
* * *
She shouldn't have remained celibate for so many years. Long-neglected physical need was obviously catching up with a vengeance. She was actually perspiring despite the freezing temperature. One drink, she reminded herself. He deserved at least that much. Surely she wouldn't do or say anything she'd regret in the time it took to have one drink.
As it turned out, she wasn't required to do or say much of anything while they were seated on two stools at the restaurant's bar. He did most of the talking. All she had to do was ask an occasional question and pay attention.
Unfortunately, that required looking directly into his incredible blue eyes. She wondered what he'd say if she asked him to put on sunglasses.
To make things worse, he was bright and, depending on the topic, he could be funny or very serious. Like her, he came from a middle-class background, was an only child with happy childhood memories, took some college classes without working toward a degree and loved the theater.
She didn't understand why she felt such a strong attraction to him. He wasn't needy or looking for a caretaker. He knew what he wanted and was working toward it. He didn't seem to be weak or indecisive like the men who had drawn her before. Kyle seemed genuinely pleased with his life without any assistance or advice from her.
Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) Page 11