Blindsided (Sentinel Securities) Read Online Free PDF Page A

as he walked past, she should have opened the door and went first, because as he turned sideways to slip inside she suddenly realised how closely they were positioned…and how great he smelled. Dropping her gaze from his, she ducked her head and mumbled about following her this way, before turning quickly and leaving him to pull the screen door shut.
    The news still played on the TV screen, and she snagged a stray building block from the coffee table and tossed it in the toy box as she walked past. "Would you like coffee?"
    "Sure, coffee would be great."
    She saw him taking in the details of the room curiously, and resisted the urge to defend the less than chic appearance of the place. It was hard to get a magazine perfect theme going with Wiggles paraphernalia, a multitude of children's toys and kid size furniture all vying for space.
    "Do you have a boy or girl?" he asked, indicating the toy box.
    "Girl—Lucy."
    "She's asleep already?" he asked, sending a quick look at the bulky watch on his wrist.
    "She's only three."
    "Oh. Right."
    Briella sent him an amused look. "Not a lot of experience with kids?"
    "Ah, no. None."
    They moved out to the kitchen at the back of the duplex and Briella waved her hand at the bar stools or the small pine table, to let him choose where he wanted to sit. Dropping his leather jacket on the table behind him, he pulled out one of the bar stools across the bench from where she stood making their coffee on the other side. "So, I guess I should ask what your name is, since we didn't get around to asking this morning." She glanced up from untwisting the coffee lid from the jar, waiting for him to answer.
    "Jason Nash."
    "Well, it's nice to meet you, Jason Nash. I'm glad you weren't hurt. I'm Briella Matheson."
    "Nice to meet you Briella. Are you a nurse?"
    Briella sent him a swift glance, wondering how he'd come to that conclusion.
    "I noticed this morning you were wearing a uniform with the hospital logo on it."
    "Oh. Yes, actually."
    "Well then, I guess I was never in any danger was I, with a n urse nearby to offer assistance. "
    "Fat lot of good it did me, you still wouldn't let me call an ambulance," she reminded him as she spooned coffee granules into two cups and waited for the jug to switch off.
    "There was nothing wrong with me."
    "So what do you do?"
    "I own my own business."
    "Doing?" she prompted at his reluctance to go into details.
    "I work in the security industry."
    "Security? Like security guards and burglar alarms?"
    "Yeah, that kind of thing."
    "Oh, great, so if you were a serial killer, you could probably disable my alarm and no one would know."
    "I could—if you even had one."
    A smile spread across her lips at his astute observation. "Wow, you're good."
    He didn't comment, but his self-satisfied smile told her he was aware of how good he was—without her having to point it out.
    Briella slid the sugar and the milk across to him, as she poured the boiling water into the two mugs.
    "So, it's just the two of you?" he asked, declining both sugar and milk for his coffee.
    She busied herself putting milk and sugar into her coffee, giving a small nod, "Yep."
    "What about your daughter's, father?" he asked, before taking a cautious sip of his coffee.
    "He's not around. Do you want something with your coffee? Here, have a biscuit…I’ve got plenty," she said indicating the two plastic containers of biscuits stacked on the countertop. She caught his curious glance and gave a sheepish shrug. “I ah, like to bake when I’m stressed…it’s been a pretty stressful week,” she added dryly.
    "Thanks."  He reached over and took one of the biscuits from the container she offered before continuing casually, "Must be hard, raising a kid on your own?"
    Briella's glance turned into a frown, surprised at the line of questioning. "You're not one of those guys who prey on single mothers because you think we’re all desperate and make easy targets, are you?"
    A tiny grunt of amusement escaped,