Naked Truth Read Online Free PDF Page A

smirk on his face. “No keep it.  I’ll come next week to get it.”
    “Wednesday?” I ask, doing the happy dance inside.
    “Wednesday,” he answers, looking a little confused.  Did I just show my hand by letting him know that I know that he always comes in on Wednesdays?
    “Unless you’d like to grab some coffee?” he asks.
    I feel like my eyes are bugging out of my head, but I force myself to remain calm. “Like, now?”
    His eyes smile at me and I am mesmerized. “Now’s good,” he answers nonchalantly while I feel anything but calm.
    I pause. Probably too long.  “I’m kinda soaked, and tired after a full day, and…” I let my sentence trail off unprompted because I realize that I’m babbling.
    He nods. “I understand. Another time,” he promises.  I nod in agreement just as he secures a loose strand of hair behind my ear.  I need to get out of here before I say or do something stupid.
    “Good night, Jordan,” I say with a shy smile then slide into the driver’s seat. As sexy as the name Pike is, I don’t want to sound like “everyone” who calls him that. I want his brain to file me in a different category.
    He laughs as I close the door.  I may have been a little awkward and caught off guard initially, but I recovered, keeping him on his toes.  Proud of myself and a little giddy from the interaction, I take a third whiff of his jacket and head home.  I watch him in my rear view mirror, standing there in the rain, with my umbrella. He doesn’t move an inch until I am completely out of sight.

    Well, shit.  I’m standing in the rain, soaking wet, with this child-sized umbrella because I can’t take my eyes off Violet’s disappearing car. Once I’m confident that she is safely on her way, I turn on my flooded heel and head into the bank to make a quick deposit.  I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get the opportunity to ask Violet out properly, and I almost fucked up by telling her to call me Pike, but I played it off, and now I am flying high from our little contact.
    I shake out the umbrella then fasten the Velcro, trying to not drip everywhere. I am soaked to the bone, but feel hot as hell on the inside.  I greet Cliff at the door as I do every Wednesday, and with a little extra pep in my step, I make my way over to the line. With one person in front of me, I have the perfect amount of time to come up with a great idea.  It’s genius, actually.
    My turn to walk to the windows, and with a smile maybe too wide, I step up to the window.
    “How do you do, Susie Q?” I ask in a singsong voice.
    “Mr. Taylor, how nice to see you this evening,” she answers with a coy smile then bites her lower lip.
    Dammit!  I cringe as I realize the shitstorm that I’ve just created for myself. I hand her my cash and try to pull my hand back quickly, but luck not being on my side today, she brushes her fingers over the top of my hand as she retrieves my money.  At that exact time, the air-conditioning kicks in and my body gets a chill, causing goose bumps to run down my arm. Of course, she takes that as another sign that I enjoyed her cop-a-feel. Fuck me.
    “Sure is cold in here,” I overemphasize, then roughly rub both of my arms. Hopefully that’s enough to get her to understand why I have the bumps.
    “Yeah? Raining hard out there?” she inquires as she processes my deposit. With that comment, I totally remember my big plan.
    “Hey! Violet loaned me her umbrella earlier. Any way I can leave it for her?  I wouldn’t want her to get caught without it tomorrow if it decides to monsoon out there again.”
    “Sure,” she says with an eye roll. Like me mentioning Violet’s name puts a damper on her day. “Give it to me and I will leave it on her chair,” she adds blandly.
    “Okay, thanks. Just give me a sec, I want to write a quick thank you note.”  I look around for a piece of paper and see the blank deposit slips on the table behind me. So I grab one and scratch out a