Wakefield College 01 - Where It May Lead Read Online Free PDF Page A

hall toward her kept her steps sedate. She smiled at
Kyle Matthews and opened the door to the president’s outer office.
    * * *
    M ADISON CROSSED HER arms on the tabletop. She and Troy had been seated upstairs in the loft
at Bannister’s, which was busy tonight. A group of students sat nearby, but half
the tables were taken by townies. She hardly noticed—all she saw was Troy,
lounging comfortably across the table from her. His gaze hadn’t left her since
they sat down.
    “You didn’t go to Wakefield,” she said.
    Troy’s smile held satisfaction. “You tried to look me up.”
    She hoped the warmth she felt in her cheeks didn’t show. “I
hope you didn’t look me up.”
    “In law enforcement databases?” He grinned and relaxed back in
his chair, his big hand wrapped around a glass of beer. “Checking out women that
way is discouraged.” He paused. “Would I have found you?”
    She made a face. “I’m afraid so. I’ve been known to drive a
little too fast.”
    “Ah.” There was amusement rather than disapproval in his eyes.
“Not good for your insurance rates.”
    “No.” She sighed. “My premium shot way up after the second
ticket.”
    “How many tickets have you had?”
    “Only two—well, two recent ones, but both were in the past
year.” Her face was heating. “You know how empty the highway is past the
Tri-Cities.”
    His mouth twitched. “Not empty enough, apparently.”
    Remembered annoyance made her frown. “The state patrol officers
are really good at hiding.”
    “Yeah, that’s one of the things taught in police
academies.”
    “Seriously?”
    He laughed. “No. You learn your first year when you’re
partnered with an experienced officer who passes on the collective wisdom of
whatever police force you’ve joined.”
    “Well, it’s ridiculous,” Madison said indignantly. “I don’t
speed when it’s not safe. I never do in town, for example. But, honestly, when
the highway is straight for miles on miles and there’s hardly any traffic,
seventy or, well, seventy-five is perfectly safe.” Or maybe
eighty.
    Although there was still a trace of humor in his eyes, he’d
quit smiling. “See, anyone in law enforcement has worked traffic accidents.
They’re really ugly. Once you’ve scraped a kid off the pavement or used the Jaws
of Life to pry a body out of a flattened car, your idea of ‘safe’ driving
changes. Seventy-five miles an hour on a two-lane highway that is pretty damn
narrow isn’t safe.”
    The pictures he’d drawn were all too vivid. She winced. “You’ve
made your point.”
    “Good.”
    “Back to you,” she said hastily. “Didn’t your dad try to talk
you into going to Wakefield?”
    “Sure he did.” He contemplated his beer, the set of his mouth
wry. “I told him I’d rather go to a community college in North Dakota. Why would
I want to stay in the most boring town in America? I wanted excitement. I wanted
to live a little.”
    Madison chuckled. “Did he understand?”
    “Yeah, I think he actually did, which didn’t mean he wasn’t
disappointed.” His face had relaxed. “You get the family pressure, too?”
    “My father simply assumed I’d be
going to Wakefield. There was never even any discussion. It never occurred to me
to dig in my heels.” She rarely admitted as much to anyone. She was embarrassed
to have been so docile and ashamed when she wondered whether she would still
be.
    “A good girl who drives too fast,” Troy mused. He took a
swallow of his beer, his eyes never leaving hers.
    “That was a long time ago. I was seventeen when I sent my
application to Wakefield.” Excuses, excuses.
    “Would you tell Daddy, ‘Hell no,’ now?”
    “The trouble is, I had a fabulous time during my four years
here. Look at me.” She spread out her arms. She’d worn a snug-fitting,
jewel-necked Wakefield College T tonight. “I loved it so much, I came racing
back as soon as there was a suitable job opening.”
    “Yeah, I guess that was an