Love by Chance (A Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free

“Scott, sorry man. Didn’t recognize you. Thought you were some crazy guy who decided to come and bother me.”

    “I was at a masquerade ball when I got your text. I didn’t waste time changing before coming here.”

    “Thanks for coming. Ellen’s been in surgery for over an hour now. No one has updated me yet, but it looks bad.”

    “Oh, no, that’s horrible. What happened?”

    “Some jerk ran the red light and T-boned us. Ellen got the worst of the impact. There was so much blood.”

    “Let’s not jump to conclusions and think the unthinkable. St. Johns is an outstanding trauma hospital and the doctors here are the best. She’s in good hands.”

    “Yeah, I know. You’re right, but I don’t know how I’m going to live without her. They’ve got to save her, they just have to.”

    “And they will. Have faith. Are you okay? Is your arm broken?”

    “Yeah, it is, but I’m okay. Have to go down to x-ray before they put a cast on it, but I don’t want to leave the surgical suite until I hear news about Ellen.”

    “Why don’t you go down and get that x-ray? I’ll stay and wait for the doctor. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll come find you.”

    Ben hesitated before he rose to his feet. “You’ll find me the minute you hear?”

    Scott got up and patted Ben’s shoulder. “Yes, now go.”

    It was hours before he heard any news. Ben came back into the surgical suite, his arm was firmly entrenched in a hard cast and there were six stitches in his forehead. When the doctor came out of surgery and let them know that Ellen would live, Ben had wept with relief. It was only after he had taken his brother home to get some rest that Scott had realized he’d left the ball without finding out his mysterious lady’s name.

    “Sir, you’ll have to leave the lobby. No loitering here,” said the security guard.

    Scott nodded and realized that his hanging around looked suspicious. “Sure. Was thinking about stuff, that’s all. Have a good day.” He turned and walked out into the cool September air.

Chapter 5
     

     

    In the limo, Alysa looked through her briefcase. “Where are the presentations? Do you have them, Alan?”

    “No, I thought you had them.”

    “Damn.” She pulled out her phone and dialed her assistant. “Lisa, where are the presentations?”

    “What? You don’t have them?” Lisa asked.

    “No, they’re not in my briefcase.”

    “Hold on a sec, let me check with the front desk.” Lisa put her boss on hold while she dialed the front lobby. When Gerry answered, she wasted no time with small talk. “Gerry, didn’t you give Alysa the presentations I left at the front desk?”

    There was a pause and then Lisa heard Gerry swear. “I’m sorry, I got distracted with a visitor and forgot to give them to her.”

    “Okay, no problem. I have her on the other line. Meet her out front.”

    She clicked back to her boss. “Al, so sorry. They’re at the front desk. Gerry will meet you outside.”

    Alysa exhaled in relief. “Thanks, Lisa. We’ll be right back.” She clicked off the line and turned back to Alan. “Seems like we’re going back to the office. The presentations are still at the security desk.”

    “Not an auspicious beginning for your first trip,” Alan said.

    “No, it’s fine. These things happen and we have plenty of time to catch our flight.”

    When the limo rounded the corner, Alysa was looking out the window. She saw a man coming out of the lobby. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it, and soon he was out of her view.

    She saw Gerry standing outside and rolled down her window when the limo pulled along side him. She reached out and took the presentations.

    “I’m sorry, totally missed giving these to you. I got tied up with a guy in the lobby.”

    “No problem, we’d only gone two blocks before I noticed they was missing,” Alysa said, taking the stack of papers from the guard.

    “Have a good