I'll Protect You (Clueless Resolutions Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

from someone of his age and experience.  A straightforward conversation with Grover was hardly ever completed with direct eye contact. One could readily come to the conclusion that something was being withheld, but one would not care to know what it was.  Simply put, Grover was not a “people person”
    The recent change which Max noticed was that Grover had become almost pompous.  He seemed to act as though he had finally risen up, from his self-imposed inferiority, to everyone else’s level.  It even got to the point that he seemed cocky, even smug.
    Perhaps Bruce is getting ready to move on. He is a drifter, after all. Max thought as he walked to his car. He was late for an inspection, with Maggie, of a commercial property which was in receivership. On the way to the appointment Max kept thinking about what his options were if Grover decided to quit.
    Obviously the free apartment unit, part of his compensation, would have to be vacated. He thought.  This didn’t bother Max too much.
    His mind flashed back a few weeks to when there had been a complaint about noise during the late hours from the couple living in the apartment unit directly above Grover’s apartment.  Also, a complaint came from another tenant, an older woman, who voiced her concern over a loud argument which she had “overheard through the apartment door” while she was coming out of the laundry room.  This hadn’t concerned Max then because he thought the woman might have been eaves-dropping.  Both of the incidents, however, had occurred within recent weeks, ever since a woman Grover referred to as his girlfriend, had moved in to share his apartment.  Although Max had talked with Grover concerning routine maintenance matters during this time, the new occupant had not been mentioned.
    As he drove on, Max mentally reviewed what he knew about the new girlfriend.  Always concerned about who was living in his apartment building, he had inquired about her and had gotten this information from Jerry Pippin:
    Carina “Carrie” Slavonic was a young woman who had recently been befriended by Grover and had moved in with him.  Her parents were emigrates from their homeland in Yugoslavia to Great Britain and had established residence in London, England.  From London she came alone, to New York City, on an educational visa.  Why she had shown up in East Wayford was not known to Jerry Pippin.
    Max had only recently met Carrie when, as he was leaving for his office one morning, he noticed her and Grover talking animatedly in the apartment driveway.  She was in her Porsche, starting to leave, and Grover, as he was leaning into the driver’s window, give her a kiss!  When Grover noticed Max, he whacked his head on the car door frame as he jerked back to an upright standing position in the driveway.  He tried to wipe a smear of lipstick from his face with his shirt sleeve as he was rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.
    My god, he’s jerking around like a puppet with the strings crossed! Max thought.
    “Hey Bruce, have I met the new guest?”  Mac queried mockingly.
    “Oh yeah, uh, no, I mean this is my girlfriend Carrie, Carrie this is my friend Max” he said, as the cars idled next to each other.
    Max got out of his car and went over to get a close up view of the attractive young driver. Did he say girlfriend? What would a young, good-looker like her see in a dead-ender like Bruce Grover? Max pondered .
    A generous whiff of heavy perfume wafted out of the window of the Porsche.
    “It was nice meeting you Carrie, I like your car” said Max, using his most tactful tone. There was no response from Carrie whatsoever.
    “I’ll catch you later, Bruce” he continued.  With a puzzled look on his face, Max got back into his car and drove away.  In his rear view mirror he caught a glimpse of the Porsche burning rubber out of the driveway as it sped off in the opposite direction.
    Max’s cell phone showed that Maggie had called earlier