“Not in the least,” Carina said.
Then I’m glad I already uploaded her picture and banned her from Nightfall.
Carina gaped at him. “You’re kidding.”
He winked and told her, “See you soon, Carina.”
When his wide shoulders disappeared from view, Carina sank down to her chair. The image of Gloria standing in line for hours and then getting turned away caused her to laugh aloud for the second time that day. With a smile, she took a drink of the delicious smoothie he’d brought her. Marcus made everything better.
I’m goingto stop by my apartment and pick up some clothes.Carina texted Marcus when the workday ended and she sat in her car once again.
Come home first, Little girl.
The command in his voice reverberated in her brain. She bristled slightly at being told what to do. The memory of the last time she didn’t follow his directions crashed into her mind. Carina scanned the parking lot, frightened by the thought that someone could be waiting to attack her again.
Seeing no one, she relaxed against the seat. A knock on the glass made her scream. Carina spun sideways to look at the passenger window. An enormous figure stood there. She fumbled with the ignition as she focused on getting far away.
Sorry, Little girl. I didn’t mean to frighten you.
“Marcus! I’m going to kill you!” she ranted as she tried to slow her heart rate down.
Open the door, Carina.
Swearing curse words she didn’t even realize she knew, Carina hit every button on her door panel. When she lowered the window, he reached in calmly to press the correct control. Marcus settled into her passenger seat, setting her purse on his lap as he filled the space. He raised the windows for her that let in the cool evening air as he took her hand to his lips to kiss it.
“My apologies, Carina. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he repeated. “I realized I could reach you before you drove home.”
She stared at him, wishing she had something to throw at him for being so calm. She snatched her hand from his. “Does anything scare you?”
“Losing you.”
“You didn’t even stop to think about that.” She stared at him in shock when he’d replied immediately. To make herself feel better, Carina grabbed her purse from his lap and whacked him across the chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
His amused chuckles erased the last of her annoyance. She slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her laughter. He plucked the purse from her hand and set it in the backseat before winking at her.
“You!” she managed to say.
“I missed you today.”
“It seemed endless,” she confessed. “And I even got to see you.”
“Perhaps you could find a job where you could work from home. Or from Nightfall.”
“Right. I doubt Nightfall needs someone who can unravel fouled-up medical billing,” Carina said with a sigh. She checked in the rearview mirror before driving toward her apartment.
“No, but Darius would like to speak to you about a position working with him on the Nightfall accounts.”
“Are you kidding?” Carina stared at him. A honk behind her made her concentrate on the flow of cars.
“Sorry!” Carina called and waved as she left the parking lot. She focused on the road, not wishing to piss anyone else off. When she had merged safely into traffic, she glanced sideways at Marcus, who sat quietly next to her.
“Were you joking?” she asked. “Darius has a job for me after meeting me casually? There’s no way he has a clue whether I’m even competent.”
“Actually, Bram created a thorough profile of your training and core abilities. We were impressed.”
Carina barely prevented the eye roll that threatened as she concentrated on rush-hour traffic. “Did he have pie charts and bar graphs?”
“No. But I can ask him if you believe that’s the best way to showcase your skills.”
