Page 48 of Hotshot Mogul

“Let me, please. I’ll have water, a beer, and a bag of chips.” She took my phone. Our hands brushed. I felt her in every cell of my body. Her eyes widened before she turned away. So, she felt it, too.

I picked up her phone. Her music app was still open. I scrolled through her impressive list of Beatles songs. Dad would be impressed. I clicked on “Norwegian Wood,” because I had been fighting a boner since she sat down; “All You Need Is Love,” because, well, that’s all you need, and “I Saw Her Standing There.” I skipped over “You Have To Hide Your Love Away,” and put “I Want To Hold Your Hand” up first. Then I deselected “Get Back.”

I put her phone back on her seat just before she came back.

Shit. She came back.

It could be no coincidence, I realized, that she was on a train with me, heading to Chicago, where she knew nobody. I was a prize asshole. Why didn’t I ask her why she was there in the first place? Had she boarded the train to Chicago for me?

“Anneliese…”

She didn’t hear me, or pretended not to. She had those damn earbuds in again. I couldn’t hear the song this time. She dropped her hand onto the seat between us. I laced my fingers through hers. She didn’t look at me. But her lips twitched into a smile. It was enough, for now.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Anneliese

Callie and Rufus waited in the parking lot as I wheeled my suitcase off the train. The skies were inky gray. Moisture hung thick and heavy, like a steamy shower. Faint thunder rumbled as I pulled at my sundress stuck to the small of my back. Ick.

I texted Callie that I was coming back to Oakdale. She and Rufus would take me to the glade. What would Bruce do? Where would he go? Livvie had bought his Jeep. If not from us, where would he find transportation?

Bruce strode to a big black SUV parked next to Callie and Rufus. Beth stood next to it, holding a tablet. Bruce’s gaze swung from me to her. Rufus chuckled. “Hey, Hotshot.”

Beth held out a key fob. She wore a diamond ring on her left hand. “I work for Dan’s Rentals. Dan’s my fiancé.” Her baby-daddy. “You need to sign here.”

Beth smiled at me. “Hello.” Rufus and Callie gawked.

I smiled.

He took the key fob and signed the tablet. “How are you, Beth? And the baby?”

“We’re good. Great, really. I’m getting married next month.”

Bruce stepped toward her, holding the tablet, and embraced her in a fast, awkward hug. “Congratulations. All the best to you, Beth.”

After they parted, Rufus lifted my suitcase into the trunk of Callie’s small car. It just fit.

Bruce watched, frowning. He raked his fingers through his hair, which meant he was agitated. His expensive watch gleamed in the sudden burst of sunlight through the murky clouds. “You could ride with me, Anneliese. I’ll take you wherever.”

Beth looked away, hiding her smile with a cough. Bruce gave her back the tablet. He dropped his hand to my bare arm. Zing. I felt his touch in my toes. My tummy tightened with wanting him. My body knew him.

I didn’t feel this way with others in my ESL classes. I tried to have coffee with other men when I believed Bruce would make a life with Beth. I only felt this way with him. One moment he pushed me away, and now he wanted to take me “wherever.”

Now I was agitated. “Don’t you have urgent business?”

“Um, about that…” His phone pinged with a text. He didn’t look at it.

“We’re headed to the glade, to the oak,” I said. “Vandals damaged it, and the decline is much worse.”

He turned to Callie. “When did this happen?”

“The best we can figure, last night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His tone was sharp.

Callie squared her shoulders and stepped toward him. “You made it clear you didn’t want to hear about the conservancy business.” She glanced at me, frowning. “You said however my vendor and I handled things…”

I flinched. Bruce saw. He squeezed my arm for one, two, three beats. “That was before. Forget what I said. New instructions.” He looked at me. “Going forward, I want to know everything that happens there. Please keep me informed.”

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