The Lonely Hearts Club Read Online Free PDF

over.”
    Then, before anyone could respond, she gathered her briefcase and walked out. It was always much better to leave with the last word.
    “Ready?” Reilly asked.
    “Yes,” Liz replied, although she wondered what she was doing letting a woman she barely knew take her home. Reilly’s quiet insistence was very persuasive, but she certainly didn’t need anyone taking care of her. Hormones. That’s all it was.

    *

    Five minutes into the ten minute ride from West Philadelphia to Rittenhouse Square, Liz realized she was experiencing another of those unnerving transitions that were becoming all too frequent. She wasn’t nauseous any longer. She was starving. Starving as in if she didn’t eat something in the next few minutes, she was likely to attack innocent bystanders on the street.
    “Are you tired?” Liz asked. “You said you worked all night.”
    Reilly glanced over as she maneuvered her red Chevy Camaro through the relatively sparse midmorning traffic. “Not really. I’m usually keyed up after being on call and I don’t like to sleep during the day. Why?”
    “I’m hungry. There’s a great bagel shop a few blocks from my building. If you don’t mind taking a detour, we can grab some. That is, if you haven’t had breakfast or—”
    “Sounds great. Brenner’s?”
    “That’s the place. I guess everyone knows it.”
    “Probably. At least everyone in the neighborhood.” Reilly turned down Twenty-first Street. “We’re practically neighbors.”
    “Really? Where do you live?”
    “I’ve got an apartment on Pine. One of the old brownstones near Twenty-second.”
    “Nice.”
    “Yeah,” Reilly said flatly. She pulled over to the curb, switched off the engine, and turned toward Liz. “You want me to go in?”
    “Obviously, my appetite is back and I’m feeling fine.” Liz glanced down at her stained slacks. “But I look a little worse for the wear.”
    “Just give me your order. I’ll take care of it.”
    Liz hesitated, then bowing to common sense, acquiesced. After giving Reilly her order, she watched out the window as Reilly sprinted around the front of the car and loped toward the bagel shop. Like most surgeons Liz knew, Reilly didn’t walk when she could run. On the other hand, the sensitive way Reilly had comforted her that morning wasn’t something Liz was used to when dealing with surgeons, who frequently seemed if not self-centered, at least fiercely focused to the exclusion of almost everything else. Remembering the way Reilly had held her in her arms when she’d been too sick to stand up, Liz felt a rush of gratitude—and a flush of pleasure at the memory of Reilly’s hard body. That was a reaction she didn’t care to examine too carefully, especially not when her emotional state resembled a rollercoaster off its tracks.
    Catching a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye, she studied Reilly returning. Even though she wasn’t Liz’s type, Liz had to admit that in her low-slung, boot-cut jeans, sneakers, and scrub shirt, with the hot summer breeze ruffling her hair, Reilly looked plenty sexy.
    “God,” Liz muttered, “no one mentioned this was going to turn me into someone completely unrecognizable.”
    “Talking to yourself?” Reilly asked as she slid into the front seat and handed Liz a bag. “Hot out of the oven.”
    “Delirious from hunger. Hurry.” Liz clutched the warm bag. If she had been taken over by aliens, there was nothing she could do about it now.
    Laughing, Reilly gunned the big engine and followed instructions.

    *

    “There’s soda and juice in the refrigerator, if you want something to drink,” Liz said as she held open the door to her ninth-floor condo. “As soon as I change, I can make coffee, if you’d rather.”
    “I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Reilly said.
    Liz indicated the living room on the right. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”
    “Take your time.”
    When Liz disappeared in the opposite direction down a