Caught in Darkness Read Online Free

Tiffany?”
    Tall, Dark, and Handsome stopped as
well, his lips dipping into a faint frown as his hands slid into his pants
pockets. “One of each,” he said carefully. “Why?”
    If he really knew the potential
victims of what she’d heard, then telling him was more important than keeping
quiet for her own sake. She took a breath and explained exactly what she’d
heard, and why Gregory Richards might have been trying to scare or threaten
her. She studied what she could see of his facial expression, noting the
increasing tightness around his jaw and the thin line his lips formed as she
spoke. He didn’t look like a man who liked what he was hearing. Or, oh, God,
what if he just didn’t like that she had heard the conversation?
    No, she decided almost instantly. While
she realized she didn’t know anything about the man before her, she was
observant enough to have noticed that Richards had disappeared far too quickly
to be on any sort of good terms with him. Tall, Dark, and Handsome couldn’t be
a part of whatever Richards, Wilson, and the other man had been planning. Of
that, and against all reason, she was sure. But there was one thing she
desperately wanted to know, so, after a moment, she asked, “How worried should
I be?”
    He released an almost inaudible
breath and carefully replied, “I wouldn’t be. Assuming what you heard was the
truth, they’ve got bigger things to be worrying about right now.”
    It was sweet of him to try to
reassure her, but Veronica knew that he wasn’t entirely right. Yes, those men
were busy and distracted, but the way she saw it, she could well have just
jumped to the top of their list of things to do. All she could hold on to was
the fact that he knew them better than she did—as in, he knew who they were—and
so, for that reason, maybe he knew what he was saying. She would have to hold
on to that for the sake of her own sanity.
    Releasing a breath, Veronica turned
and resumed walking as she said, “I hope you’re right.” Tall, Dark, and
Handsome kept pace beside her as they walked, nodding his head in silent
agreement with her statement. And it wasn’t until she had dropped her lunch bag
into the garbage that she realized they had skipped that all-important first
step of communication. She turned to face him again, this time with a friendly
smile, and extended her hand as she said, “Oh, I’m so sorry; I’m Veronica
Wyndham.”
    His lips twitched ever-so-slightly
and he removed a hand from his pocket in order to wrap it again around hers as
he replied, “Seth Hunter. It’s nice to officially meet you, Ms. Wyndham.”
    She couldn’t decide what she liked
more—his simple, straightforward, powerful name or the fact that he actually
recognized her—and heard herself saying, “Veronica, please.” Am I blushing? Oh,
that was so humiliating. Suddenly she felt like she might be fifteen again
after all.
    Seth inclined his head as his hand
returned to his pocket and he said, “Veronica it is, then.” He paused, but she
got the impression that he intended to say more, and slowly asked, “Would it be
all right if I gave you my number? In case Richards bothers you again.”
    Her heart did something funny at
the idea of having his number, and she told herself to ignore it as she nodded
and dug her phone out of the purse hanging from her shoulder. “Sure,” she said,
hoping for not the first time that he would accept her reaction as casual. Before
she could stop herself, she was adding, “But then maybe you should have mine,
so that you’ll know it’s me who’s calling.”
    “That seems fair,” Seth replied. He
rattled off his number a moment later, and then dutifully typed hers into his
phone when she recited it for him.
    Once their phones were put away
again Veronica was reminded of that dreaded moment when the date was over and
the couple had to part, despite neither wanting to. Only that
was an incredibly stupid thing to be thinking, since they’d barely