The Last Groom on Earth by Kristin James Read Free Book Online Page A

their own hours.
    Tonight Angela was by herself in the office. Kelly had a date, and Tim and his family had gone to the beach for the weekend. Angela’s fingers flew over the computer keyboard as she expanded her ideas. Over the past hour, she had been growing gradually more aware that she was hungry, but she was too deeply involved in the creative process to stop and get something to eat.
    Finally, however, a harsh metallic clang intruded on her consciousness, and she looked up from her computer screen. What in the world had that been? Her heart picked up its beat. She knew that there should be no one else in the office, especially up here on the second floor, which was primarily her, Tim’s and Kelly’s domain. She thought about burglars. There was never much cash in their office, but they did have lots of expensive electronic equipment—and not just equipment, either; Tim’s office was full of all the games he loved and their paraphernalia.
    Angela stood up and tiptoed to the door into the hallway to peer out cautiously. Light slanted out of Kelly’s open door into the hallway. Angela’s heart began to race. She knew that Kelly had left almost three hours earlier. There was no reason why anyone should be in her office—and Kelly’s door was always locked, since many of their records were kept there. That meant whoever was there would have had to break in.
    Angela glanced back at the telephone on her desk and wondered if she should call 911. But somehow she could not quite believe that someone had really broken in, and she thought of how stupid she would feel if she called 911 and they came charging in only to find that Kelly’s date had been broken at the last minute and she had decided to come work off her irritation.Angela stood for a moment indecisively then tiptoed back to her desk and picked up the large piece of mahogany obsidian that she used as a paperweight. Hefting it in one hand, she sneaked out the door and down the hall, careful not to make a sound. At Kelly’s door, she peeked around the doorframe. She could see nothing except Kelly’s desk, the desk lamp casting a golden circle of light over it. Angela leaned farther in, her head craning around to see behind Kelly’s desk.
    On the other side of Kelly’s office, hidden by the open door, a file drawer banged against its metal frame as it rolled in. Angela jumped, an involuntary gasp escaping her, and the heavy rock slipped from her hand. It hit the floor with a loud thud.
    “What the hell!”
    Angela froze. There were footsteps and an instant later, a man’s hand swung the door all the way open. Bryce Richards stepped into the doorway.
    “Oh. It’s you,” they chorused.
    Angela let out her breath and pressed her hand against her chest, where her heart was pounding cra-zily.
    “What the hell did you do?” Bryce asked, and his gaze fell to the rock on the floor between them. “Did you drop that?”
    Angela nodded.
    He looked at her as if she might be deranged. “What were you doing carrying a rock around?”
    Angela stiffened. “I thought you might be a burglar. So I picked up my paperweight before I came to investigate. What do you think I should have done, come without anything to protect myself?”
    “If you thought I was a burglar, the smart thing would have been to stay in your office and call the police.”
    “Well, then we’d have looked pretty silly, wouldn’t we?” she retorted.
    He shrugged. “Better silly than shot by a startled thief.”
    He bent and picked up the chunk of dark rock flecked with red and handed it back to her with a mockly formal bow. Angela grimaced and cradled the rock in the crook of her arm.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked ungraciously. “I thought you were in Charlotte the rest of the week.”
    “I was. But I finished early this afternoon, so I thought I’d drive down and get started. This weekend’ll be a good time to work. Nobody around. It’ll take less time away from my business.