Page 53 of Wanted

To look at her, one would think she was attractive. She wastaller than Sara with a little heavier build, blonde curls lying above hercollarbone. She was plain, but pretty. Nothing compared to Sara, of course, butI was sure she didn’t have an issue garnering a man’s attention.

There was a big smile on her face as she continued to watch theman standing to my left. Only when I cleared my throat did she swing her eyesto me, an instant look of disgust contorting her face.

In turn, I chose not to hide my annoyance with her rudeness. “Megan,is it?” I asked, striding toward the counter. Admittedly, I wasn’t used towomen not fawning all over me. Not that I wanted her to act in such a manner,but it was always easier to obtain information when people were tripping overthemselves merely because I paid attention to them.

“Sara’s not here,” she sneered, focusing her attention back onthe computer and completely ignoring me.

She obviously thinks she’s done talking to me.

“Have I done something to offend you?” I asked in the mostsincere tone I could muster, making a real effort to find out what her problemwith me was. My instinct was to be rude and condescending, but I knew itwouldn’t work to my advantage.

“Nothing tome,” she scoffed.She finally lifted her gaze from the screen and glared at me. She literallyglared at me. “I don’t like you, and you’ll reap what you sow.”

What the fuck does thatmean?

Her unnerving statement solidified she was certainly a littleunstable. She may have been able to hide it well from Sara, but she’d shown meher true colors.

Not wanting to entertain her any longer, I walked toward the backof the shop.

“Hey, you can’t go back there!” she yelled, rushing to catch upwith me.She was close on my heels as Irounded the corner to the prep room. “I said you can’t come back here.” Iwhipped around so quickly she had to take a step back.

“I can come and go as I please. Just ask yourboss.” Thankfully, Matt was coming outof the restroom, saving me from telling her to go to hell. He looked quicklybetween the two of us, clearly confused why we were shouting at each other.

Matt and I hadn’t always gotten along. Actually, that was anunderstatement. We almost came to blows a couple of times, mostly because Ioverreacted to certain situations. My feelings for Sara were so new andconfusing, they twisted me up inside.

Matt still looked confused as he started to speak. “Sara’s nothere right now, but she’ll be back soon. I can tell her you stopped by,though.” He glanced down at the sheet in his hand, figuring our conversationwas done.

“Actually, I came to see you.” I didn’t even have to look behindme to know Megan was still shooting daggers at me. “I was going to head over toVerdana later tonight and wanted to know ifyoucould meet methere? I thought we could grab a beer and chat.”

Yes, my request was out of left field, and it wasn’t lost onMatt.

“Uhhhhh,” he stammered. “Yeah…I suppose.” His brow furrowed as heasked me, “What time?”

“Meet me there at seven. Do you know where it is?”

“Yes.”

No other words were necessary.

The plan was set.

~~~~

I was sitting at the bar drinking a beer when Matt walked upbehind me. He was nothing if not punctual. Even though I was going to pump himfor information, essentially asking him to go behind Sara’s back, I was goingto make a real attempt to try and get to know him.

After ordering a draft, Matt took a seat next to me, still tryingto figure out why I’d asked him to join me. Sara was shocked as hell when Itold her, so I could only imagine what was running through Matt’s head.

I wasn’t one to beat around the bush, so I got right to it. “Matt,I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked you to meet me tonight.”

“Iwaswondering…yes,” hereplied, taking another drink as he waited for my reason.

“Well, as you know, I’ll go to extremes to make sure Sara issafe, even when they’re things she objects to. We clash heads a lot because ofit.” I laughed, picturing the many times Sara and I bickered over my antics andher stubbornness.

Matt smirked, because he knew I spoke the truth.He’d been privy to a few of those disagreements.

“What do you need from me?” He sure got right to the point. Iliked it. Placing his drink back on the bar, he swiveled around until he wasfully facing me. As I attempted to answer his question, his mouth fell open andhe rushed to ask, “She’s not in any more danger is she?” His voice took on apanicked tremor, and I knew right then how much Sara meant to him. He’d becomeso worried about his friend, it physically shook him.

“I’m not sure yet.” Shaking my head, I tried to clarify. “What Imean is I don’t know anything about this new employee of hers. This MeganSmith.” I tried to hold back my contempt but it spewed forth, out of mycontrol. “I’d like to do a thorough background check, but of course, Sararefuses to give me her information.” Taking another tug off my bottle, Igrasped his shoulder. “This is where you come in.”

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