The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher Read Free Book Online Page B

standing there? It felt like five minutes, but I knew it was probably more like ten seconds. He moved a millimeter closer. There was nowhere for me to go. If I pressed myself further against the door, I’d melt into the wood. I was so afraid…but of what? I’d been kissed before. He spoke and he was so near to my face, I could feel his lips brush against the corner of my mouth.
    “I’m not going to kiss you,” He said. I felt my heart lurch. W as it up or down? Up or down? I didn’t know if I was disappointed or relieved. He backed up. “Not today, Olivia. But, I am going to kiss you.”
    I felt a swell of agitation swirl through my belly, it traveled up my chest and reached my mouth.
    “No.”
    It sounded so silly; a child’s word of defiance. I don’t know why I said it, except to take back some of the control he had stolen from me.
    Caleb had already turned to walk away, but my “no” stopped him. He turned. His hands were in his pockets. The hallway seemed to shrink around him, his presence swallowing it up. How did he do that? I expected him to say something else, maybe flirt with me some more. Instead he grinned, looked at the ground, looked back at me…and walked away.
    He won again.  That little move had been stronger, left more of an impression than if he had actually pressed his lips to mine. Now, I had the impending feeling of being hunted. I barely had time to process what had just happened when the door was flung open and Cammie pulled me into our room by the waistband of my jeans.
    “Tell me everything!” she demanded. She had rollers the size of Twinkies in her hair and her face was lathered in something that smelled strongly of lemon.
    “There’s nothing to tell,” I said mysteriously, almost dreamily.
“I’ll let you keep the sweater I loaned you.” I considered this a moment, before nodding.
    “He took me to Jaxson’s ice cream…” I began.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
    The Present
     
     
     
     
     
    I have to stop daydreaming. I’ve been spending too much time thinking about the past and reliving how we met. I am suddenly aware that I am seated behind my desk scribbling distractedly on a document I am supposed to be transcribing into type, and that hours had passed. I brought doughnuts into work and one of the lawyers from the firm is digging around in the box getting sugar all over his sleeve. He makes his selection and perches himself on the edge of my desk knocking over a cup of pens. I cringe, but keep my hands in my lap.
    “So, how’s law school going?” he ignores the mess he made and bites into a jelly. I imagine the stack of law school applications on my dresser at home and sigh. Tonight. Tonight, I would be ambitious.
    “Fine, thank you, Mr. Gould.” I can’t take it anymore. I scoop up the pens and reposition the cup.
    “You know Olivia, a girl with your looks can get far in this world, if she plays her cards right.”
    He is chewing with his mouth open.
    “Well, I was hoping that my talent and hard work would get me far in the world, Mr. Gould, not my appearance.”
    He chuckles at me.  I envision myself jamming a pen into his trachea. Blood. There would be lots of blood to clean up. I better not.
    “If you ever want to excel in this field, sweetheart, you let me know. I can instruct you all the way to the top.” He smiles at me, winks, and my slime-ball radar goes off. I hate being sugar lipped, especially by a bleating goat in pinstripes.
    “Instruct?” I ask with false enthusiasm. Mr. Gould picks at his teeth, flashing me a view of his wedding band, which he liked to forget symbolized fidelity.
    “Do I have to spell it out for you?”
    “No,” I sigh boringly, “but you’ll have to spell it out for human resources when I tell them that you’re sexually harassing me.” I pull a nail file from my drawer o’crap and begin sawing at my thumb. When I look up, his face has gone from its usual tomato