Body Heat Read Online Free PDF Page B

but he wouldn’t repeat it.
     
    Maura retreated to her office, fighting a tension headache. She searched through the pile of files Louise had passed on to her, confirmed that there was nothing related to Jesse Blue, and buzzed for Gracie to come see her.
    A moment later, the young woman popped through her doorway, face bright. “The closer you get, the better he looks, right?”
    “Gracie, that’s not appropriate,” she snapped.
    Her excited expression crumpled. “Oh, man, sorry. I just meant—No, I mean, you’re right. Of course you’re right.”
    Maura felt guilty for taking her annoyance out on the girl. She really was terrible with people, at least those under the age of fifty. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them; she just wasn’t as comfortable with them as with figures. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. But we do both need to focus on work. Can I get you to do something?”
    “Sure.”
    As well as handling the reception desk, Gracie often assisted Louise and had authorization to deal with confidential HR files. Maura handed her the key to Louise’s locked file cabinets. “You know the HR files better than I do. Would you hunt for the file on this . . . person. His name’s Jesse Blue, his lawyer is Barry Adamson, or it might be under something like ‘community service.’ ”
    Gracie brightened. “I’ll look right now. What d’you figure he did? It’s gotta be something sexy, right? Like, oh, street racing or something.”
    She really was irrepressible. An annoying quality. “Street racing endangers lives,” Maura said sharply. “Honestly, Gracie, I don’t think breaking the law—any kind of breaking the law—is sexy.”
    Looking chastened again, the girl hurried away.
    “I’m right,” Maura muttered to herself. “I know I’m right.” But maybe she shouldn’t have phrased it so abruptly. She slapped her glasses on and surveyed her desk. “What was I doing?” Oh, yes, she’d finished the tax filings.
    That thrill of control and satisfaction was a thing of the past.
    She pulled up the spreadsheet for the budget she’d been looking forward to working on, but found it difficult to concentrate. There was a disturbing stranger at Cherry Lane and she was responsible for him. She shot glances out her window, which faced the courtyard.
    Good with his hands, yes. The speed of light, no. He didn’t seem to have it in him to rush. His movements were economical, she’d give him that, but he was as slow as—
    Damn it, he was as slow as she was being with this budget.
    She turned back to her computer with fierce determination. There was a Board meeting Friday afternoon and she wanted to present a perfect budget, with all the backup figures and analysis. The directors had advertised for the general manager position and résumés would be coming in. She was the only internal applicant. Louise had prioritized family over career advancement, and Neil, the resident services manager, loved his job and wanted to stay with it. Maura should have an edge over external applicants, and she had a master’s in Business Administration as well as her accounting diploma, but she had to make sure that every single thing she did was flawless.
    Engrossed in work, it was a while before she looked out again. She must have really lost track of time because Jesse had moved the sprinkler and was halfway through digging one of the borders. A very meandering border, rather than the neat straight line she’d envisioned—and sure enough, he wasn’t using the cord and spikes he’d brought from the tool room. Honestly!
    She tilted her head, caught up in the way he moved. It was hard work, she could see that. He stabbed the edger into the unyielding ground, stuck a foot on the top, and seemed to be throwing his whole body weight into levering the tip into the soil. He had his back to her and muscles bulged in his shoulders and upper arms, under his black T-shirt. He did have the most