Baby, Don't Go by Stephanie Bond Read Free Book Online Page B

noticed until she’d undressed to take a shower.
    “I love it,” she said, which was the truth. She only hoped it was in the pickup truck somewhere.
    “Good,” Candace said, her voice infused with pleasure. “I’m asking because I’m thinking about starting my own jewelry business.”
    “That’s terrific, Mom. You’d be good at it, and you have great contacts in retail.” She wet her lips. “What does Bo think about the idea?”
    “I haven’t mentioned it to him yet.”
    “Maybe it’s something you should keep to yourself for now,” Alicia suggested. “Until you work out all the details.” Or else Bo would probably plant doubts in her mother’s head. She hated that Candace was so easily influenced by men who didn’t have her best interests in mind.
    “Maybe you’re right,” Candace agreed, her voice distant.
    Alicia’s phone beeped. She glanced at the screen to see her boss, Nina, was calling. “Mom, I need to take another call. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
    “Of course, dear. Good luck with your story.”
    “Thanks, Mom. Goodbye.” Alicia disconnected the call. Worry over her mother niggled her stomach, but she’d learned long ago not to get involved in her parents’ relationships. Eventually, the players would change anyway.
    She connected the second call. “Hi, Nina.”
    “Just checking in to make sure you weren’t kidnapped…or worse.”
    “No,” Alicia said with a laugh. “I got a job working in the town diner. I figure I can talk to a lot of people that way.”
    “You’re a waitress?”
    “I’m the manager and, for now, the cook.”
    “You? The woman who set the microwave on fire in the break room?”
    Alicia frowned. “That was a faulty bag of popcorn.”
    “Right. Did you give your real name?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Won’t that be a problem when you provide your social security number?”
    “I’ll figure out something to stall the paperwork.”
    “No doubt. Have you met any of the Neanderthals?”
    “I’m working for the head Neanderthal, Marcus Armstrong.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “He’s overhauling the diner for an inspection from the Department of Energy. It has something to do with recycling and keeping their federal grant.”
    “And is he horrid?”
    Alicia turned back to the window and glanced down into the street. Marcus Armstrong was still there, talking to a young boy in a soccer uniform, and the man was…smiling? “He’s…hard to read,” she murmured.
    “What’s your general feel of the place?”
    She looked back to horizon. “I know I could never live here.”
    “Are the conditions primitive?”
    “There aren’t many luxuries for sure. But it’s just so isolated. The town is surrounded by mountains. It feels like civilization is far, far away.”
    “So do you think something interesting is going on there?”
    Alicia turned and picked up a sheet of paper that listed the resident rules, chief of which was no overnight male guests. Protective…or controlling? “Yes, I’m just not sure what to make of it all yet.”
    “Okay, keep me posted.”
    Alicia disconnected the call and looked back to the street. Marcus Armstrong was alone again, hands jammed on his hips, that perennial frown back on his face. He glanced up and down the sidewalks, as if to assess the town and its people. Tall and authoritative, he looked every inch the head of the community…a throwback to an earlier time, when a whole town could be held in one person’s hands.
    But what exactly did he have in mind for this one?
    He looked up in the direction of her window and Alicia shrank back, her heart pounding. Even at this distance, he had the ability to make her feel as if he could see through her, as if he knew she was here under false pretenses. She blamed it on his mesmerizing blue eyes.
    When she chanced another glance, he was walking away, his head and shoulders back. She watched his big body until he was out of sight.
    Alicia bit into her lip. Marcus