Nexus Read Online Free PDF Page B

on, and they’re durable, so they last a long time.”
    “How do you manage all that?” Ellen asked.
    “I do most of the on-site selling, and I have four outside sales people and then clerks and an office manager and of course an accountant and a lawyer and—”
    “Isn’t Marcus your lawyer?”
    “Marcus is a criminal lawyer,” he told her. “He doesn’t do boring contract work; he saves people’s lives.”
    I rolled my eyes.
    “Stop that,” Joe snapped at me. “Your work is very important.”
    Ellen was startled—it was all over her face.
    I winked at her, and she was thoroughly flustered. “Everything I do, the man knows.”
    She nodded fast, touched by that for some reason.
    The waitress showed up, and I thanked her for being a goddess for bringing me coffee. I was quiet after that, letting Joe order my food, sitting there, taking in the conversations around me, listening.
    I realized how tired I was—exhausted really—and my body was starting to sink into the chair. But I smiled and leaned my knee against Joe’s and talked to his father about my caseload. When the food was delivered to the table by several waitresses at once, I registered how hungry I really was.
    “Marcus.” Joe said my name to draw my attention.
    “Oh, you have magic eggs. I got bacon and nifty toast.” I yawned as I rubbed my eyes. They were watering, I was so tired.
    “Okay.” Joe smiled. “And coffee?”
    “Coffee’s good.” I yawned louder. “God, I gotta go to bed.”
    “When?” he teased me.
    I snorted out a laugh. The man had a one-track mind.
    “Joe,” his mother began, “honey, your eggs are at—”
    “Oh no, Mom, it’s okay,” he cut her off. “Marcus already said.”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “He already told me where everything is on my plate.”
    “When?” She was surprised.
    I turned and looked at her. “He hates the clock thing. Has he never told you that?”
    She was looking at me with a bemused expression on her face. “No, dear, he never has.”
    Of course he hadn’t. Joe only ever told me the truth about everything. All the other nice people in his life, he shielded and protected and let them do whatever the hell they wanted to make them think that they were helping him. It was thoughtful and wildly distrustful at the same time. With everyone but me, Joe worried about being a burden. And his family was wonderful, but still he was careful with them, never wanting to cause a stir or rock the boat. His relationship with me was the only one that was different.
    “Well, Deb, he hates it.” I smiled at her.
    “Oh. And so what did you—”
    Joe’s laughter was deep and husky, one of the many things I loved about the man. “Mom,” he coughed, still chuckling, “it’s Schoolhouse Rock .”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “The numbers are—”
    “Oh!” His cousin Ellen smiled wide. “That’s right. Three is a Magic Number and—”
    “Nifty eggs.” Barbara nodded. “That’s right… naughty, nasty, nifty, number nine,” she sang softly.
    When she stopped, all eyes were on her. 
    “What?”
    Ellen giggled. “That was quite the show of dorkiness there, Barbie.”
    “Yeah, I know, but—I got?” She looked at me, confused.
    I grinned at her. “You know, I got six, he got six, she got—”
    “Six.” She drew out the word as she smiled wide. “Yeah okay.”
    Deborah Locke was beaming at me. “I love that.”
    “I like it too,” Joe told her. “And Marcus usually does it fast just like he did a minute ago when we’re out places, so it’s not a thing, ya know?” he said, reaching for his coffee.
    “Eleven?” She asked me.
    “Good-good-good-good, good eleven, never gave me any trouble ’til after nine,” Ellen sang for her, off-key.
    I laughed at her. “Must you sing?”
    Everyone close to us lost it. 
    “Oh.” Deb caught her breath, her eyes filling fast. “I just—”
    “Mother,” Joe cautioned her.
    She cleared her throat. “Okay—okay, sorry.”
    I chuckled, leaned