Bourne to Love Emma (RED-Stone Operatives Book 1) by MacKenzie K. Paxton Page A

us feel
safe.  He snuck snacks to Mia when I checked the mail a few times and now she’s
a ruthless manipulator every time we see him.  But she’s adorable. 
    Tonight, Mia discovered Frank’s stash
of pretzel sticks and was nice enough to share with the kind older man.  When I
gave the armband to Frank and asked if he could get it to Jason, he told me
that Jason is actually in the building if I wanted him to call and have him
come down.  Part of me wanted to say yes, but the other part of me knows how
desperate that would look.  I pass.  Frank and I argued over a few lines on his
crossword puzzle before I convinced Mia she’d had enough pretzels and it was
time for a bath and bedtime. 
    “Bye, Fank!” she screeched as I ran
to the elevator carrying her on my shoulders.  Franks laughter followed us into
the elevator and I heard him wish us a good night, too.  I am so lucky we moved
into this building.  Seriously.
    The next morning, as I was dropping
Mia off with Carla so I could head to a client meeting across town, my phone
beeped letting me know I had a new text message.
    Em –
thanks for dropping my arm band at the front desk.  I would have missed it this
afternoon!   Jason
    I have no idea how long I just stared
at that message…or how long I mentally ticked through options to find an
appropriate response before writing back.
                            That’s what I thought. Glad it
made it back to you! E
    Before I tucked my phone into my
purse, I saved his number in my contacts with a silly smile on my face, I’m
sure.  Then, I hurried out to my car.  I hated driving in rush hour traffic,
but I don’t get to set meeting times, so here we go!

Chapter 5
    ~Emma~
     
    Thank God this week was done!  And
thank Heather for hanging onto my Mia so I could clean house and get a few
sections of my next project started today instead of being rushed on Monday. 
    I’m already halfway through what I
wanted to accomplish work-wise, so now I was tackling the house work.  My first
can of Diet Coke got me through scrubbing the kitchen floors and putting away
the dishes from the dishwasher.  Once the counters were organized, I ticked
that room off my to-do list.
    I worked my way through my second can
of Diet Coke while I deep clean the bathroom.  I had pop music blaring from my
iPhone on the bathroom counter and I wiggle-danced my way through my task. 
    Once the bathroom was finished, I
headed to my room to strip the bed.  As I was tugging the fitted sheet off my
mattress, my phone shrilled with a weather alert.  ‘Severe thunder storms
moving into the area’ – at least my car is in a parking garage and I’m inside
already.  I sent a quick text to Heather to check on Mia.
    Bad
weather moving in – you okay keeping Mia until it passes?  I should be done
with my stuff in another couple hours.  J
    I plugged my phone in to charge and
turned on the radio on my alarm clock to my favorite station before Heather wrote
back.
    Np. 
We’re painting nails.  Used ‘baby doll pink’ on your baby doll.  Putting ‘hooker
red’ on myself.  ;)  We’re good.  TTYL.
    I laughed out loud and got back to my
chores.  Beyoncé, JT and Shakira kept me grooving while I got a load of laundry
started, put clean sheets on Mia’s bed and got chicken marinating for tonight. 
I was stretching the fitted sheet across my mattress when the lights flickered
once and then went out completely.  I waited for a second before grabbing my
phone and using its flashlight app to finish making my bed.  At least I was
pretty much done with what I need to do today.   
                            Me:  Power out here.  You girls
okay?
    Heather:  Our
power is on.  Watching Dora and eating goldfish.
    Me:  Good
deal.  I’ll find some candles in case it’s off for a while.
    Heather:  
No worries.  Maybe you should join us for a slumber party.