Читать книгу Reckless Pleasures - Tori Carrington - Страница 11

THE FOLLOWING MORNING dawned earlier than it had the day before, or at least it seemed that way.

Megan dragged herself out of bed, went for her usual six-mile run, then showered and dressed for a day at the office rather than at the training facility. She had back-to-back meetings, so any thoughts of working her frustrations out on the firing range or on overly eager new recruits went out the window.

Last night, she’d barely spoken to Dari before the line went dead. After five minutes of trying to get him back, she’d received a text message: Sorry, baby. Situation went south, reception bad. Love you.

She’d finally fallen asleep somewhere around 4:00 a.m., the cell clutched to her chest. But he hadn’t called or texted again.

Feeling marginally better now that she had immediate business to occupy her time, she sat down in her office chair and considered the paperwork on the desk in front of her. She had yet to decorate the room in any way and heard about it from the two secretaries who manned the front, along with the pretty receptionist Jason was trying to charm. Megan’s immediate response was to ask why they weren’t on any of the men to do something about the starkness of their offices.

But maybe she should buy a couple of plants or something. There was good light in this room. And the view of the mountains through the window was great. Not that she spent that much time looking at it.

The telephone buzzed, indicating an internal call rather than an external one. She picked up the receiver.

“You ready?” Jason asked.

“For what?”

“The meeting in ten.”

“I could do this one with my eyes closed.”

“Right. You do realize that a one-year contract that will employ ten, twenty agents hangs in the balance.”

“Mmm. So I’ve been told. By you, as the case may be. Anyway, I figured you have it covered.”

“No, Meg, I think this one’s going to take a woman’s touch.”

Twenty minutes later, she saw what he meant. The two representatives from a chain of area nightclubs they were meeting with were women. And they not only appeared immune to Jason’s charms, they looked a wink away from offended.

This was the type of contract Dari could have finalized with a handshake. Instead, Megan took the reins and convinced them that Lazarus was the firm for the job.

Finally, she and Jason were alone in the conference room.

“Good job,” he said with a grin.

“You might consider working on your skills when it comes to female clients.”

“Why? I have you for that.”

She gathered her items together and started to leave the office.

“You sitting in on the next one?” Jason asked.

“Women again?”

His grin widened. “No, men. But I think you’d be equally effective…albeit in a different way.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

She heard voices and the tinny sound of a television coming from the front. She put her papers on her desk and went to investigate, unsurprised to find Jason already there.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

The three women were gathered around a flatscreen TV usually reserved for training videos. They parted like the Red Sea, allowing her a clear view of live news coverage.

“Missing girl,” Jason said, crossing his arms.

In Florida.

A missing girl who was so sweet-looking the case had garnered national attention. She picked up the remote to check. Sure enough, another national news channel was playing the same footage.

She and Jason turned toward their offices at the same time.

“Do you want to call or should I?” Jason asked, passing her open doorway where she already had a telephone in hand.

“You work your contacts, I’ll work mine.” She shouted for one of the secretaries, requesting she get the other available partners on the job. “First one to the finish wins….”