Oh Stupid Heart Read Online Free Page B

and
brushed non-existent wrinkles from her skirt, hoping he’d drop the topic.
    Instead, he gripped
her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “The bar he owns in Brooklyn?”
    She grimaced and gave
up. The truth would probably get Sam in serious trouble. She needed to modify
it a bit. “No, he drove me there. He found me attacking a door and thought I
needed some ‘down time’ before he took me back to you.”
    “What door were you
attacking?” His right eyebrow had risen again.
    “No clue. I can’t
recall the street I was on or why I attacked the door. All I remember is feeling
like I’d lost everything good in my life, and I needed to kick the hell out of
something.”
    He wrapped his arms
around her and kissed her temple. “I know exactly what you mean.”
    “Sorry I didn’t tell
you about Sam’s bar before, but I feared you’d fire him if you knew he had a
second income.”
    Trent softly snorted.
“I think I’ve paid for the damn place. Is my face still plastered to his dart
boards?”
    “Yes, but no one threw
any darts, and the crowd toasted you several times.”
    A low chuckle
erupted. “Then I can sleep well, tonight,” he teased. “So how did you meet
Dawn?”
    “She’s his barmaid.
She’s tall, sexy, and blonde.”
    He shook his head in
disgust.
    Now she understood
why he’d become so angry with his driver. Sam’s obsession with Trent’s dates
could be classified as creepy.
    “Maybe you could hook
Sam up with the therapist you dated. Might help him to date a redhead.”
    “She was blonde…oh I
get it.” He chuckled and kissed her. Electrical currents sparked right down to
her toes.
    Sam pulled the car to
the curb and lowered the privacy glass, glaring at them. “Would you like to
enter through the lobby or shall I park in the garage and let you two have a
rumble in the backseat?”
    Trent eyed him and got
out, leaving Carrie behind.
    She scooted across
the seat and followed, wishing he had waited for her. The frightening memories
of the day before returned as she stared at the lobby where her life almost
took a direct path to hell.
    Yesterday, she’d
purposely lagged behind Trent and Coco. All she’d wanted was time away from
them, to recover from Coco’s barbs and Trent’s betrayals. Instead, she ran into
Bad Pimp Boss who wished to make her one of his girls. If she hadn’t kicked the
fellow in the balls, and run like the wind, she’d either be dead or chained to
a bed while unclean men did unspeakable things. Thank God she’d had a good
angle and aim.
    After he collapsed in
pain, she’d run full speed to the lobby of this building, intending to find
safety in Trent’s penthouse. Only the lobby guard thought her a homeless person
and tried his hardest to throw her out where an angry Bad Pimp Boss waited.
    She gripped her arms
as a shiver ran down her spine.
    Trent stopped at the
glass door and turned to her. “You okay?”
    She gulped, steadied
her nerves, and hurried into the lobby.
    Dressed properly, dirty
tennis shoes aside, and accompanied by Trent, she had no trouble gaining access
to his penthouse today.
    No crime scene tape forbade
their entrance. Evidently, when the cops shoot and kill a Mafia drug dealer in
your penthouse, they can close the crime quickly.
    While Detective
Pascal could have arrested her for distributing narcotic turtles, thankfully he
didn’t since she hadn’t done so intentionally.
    All she’d wanted was
an electronic copy of an expense report. But before she could ask any more
favors of poor Jack, their systems person, she needed to make him his favorite
treat: her grandmother’s chocolate turtles.
    She had found some dark
chocolate bars in Trent’s kitchen and made a whole tray of chocolate caramel
turtles. She hadn’t known the chocolate bars contained the narcotic Europa.
    Poor Mars, the
penthouse butler, and Jack, their only working systems person, remained in the
hospital, coming down from their Europa Delight trips. Mars believed he