Where We Left Off Read Online Free PDF Page B

what,” Mason said, pulling out one of his business cards, attempting to make his last impression and woo her with his professional charm, “how about you give me a call and –”
    Sydney took the card from his hand before he could finish as the taxi pulled up. He smiled, thinking he had her and his antics had finally worked, but he was confused when he saw her pull a pen from the small purse she had hanging from her shoulder.  She flipped his card over to the reverse side and leaned against the roof of the cab. She wrote something down and handed the card back to him.
    “How about you give me a call, and maybe we can have lunch sometime; work on this stranger thing.” 
    Instead of taking his number, she had given him hers instead.  To most men this would have been okay, but not to Mason. It meant that he lost the upper hand and the ball was, in fact, now in his court. 
    She got into the cab without waiting to get a response from him as the driver put her luggage into the trunk and drove off.  Even though she’d given her number, she didn’t really expect him to call.  She knew his type.  She’d been hit on by plenty of guys like Mason.  Instead of playing to their tune she learned how to talk just as smooth, give just as much, and still walk away with her pride.  In most of those cases, however, she never gave her phone number out. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she found him extremely attractive, but guys like Mason are a type, the type, that she stayed away from. 

Chapter 6
     
    The city wasn’t without its usual nuisances, and the fact that it was a Friday didn’t help much.  It had been two weeks since the wedding passed - two weeks of what felt like nineteen days of straight work and very little down time, which was beyond unusual for Mason.  The breeze blew cool, waiting to carry the warmth of the sun through partly cloudy skies. Mason watched tirelessly from his office window, seeing people making their rounds at the news stands and coffee shops in Rodney Square while waiting for the bus to get them to where they were going.  Apparently he wasn’t the only one trying to get a head start on the day, he thought, laughing to himself.
    J.D. Everett & Associates, apart from the leading banks that comprised the city’s skyline, was one of the most prominent family owned corporations in Delaware. It was positioned in the center of everything appealing in Wilmington, overlooking everything that made the city what it was.  Mason stood behind the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that framed his building.  He was in the office early trying to get a jump start on a few things for a meeting he had scheduled later that afternoon.  On a traditional day he could multi-task exceptionally well, but today too many things and too many people one in particular he couldn’t get out of his mind.  There is no reason I should still be thinking about her, he told hiself, scanning through the papers on his desk.  His mind wandered what seemed like every few minutes.  The first time was a glimpse of her smile -- one of the most beautiful he’d ever seen.  The second was the sound of her voice: her laugh, her words –sharp and direct.  Sydney.  He laughed his thoughts off for most of the morning, unsure of why or what was making Sydney linger amongst his thoughts.  It wasn’t like he’d met her previously, but there was certainly something about meeting her the first time that made her stand out from the girls he’d been accustomed to interacting with. 
    The morning progressed to working hours and a lot of his staff had already come in and started their day.  Mason was the type to keep up appearances no matter what else was happening, so he repeated the same routine every day he came into the office:  He emptied his pockets into his desk every morning before sliding his hands across them to make sure they were flat and kept their tapered look.  Just like every other morning, today