Читать книгу Shameless - Tori Carrington, Tori Carrington - Страница 11

6

THE MINUTES of the day ticked by with agonizing slowness. Nina stared at the clock, willing the hands to move, for the day to be over so that she could rush headlong into the mysteries of the night.

“Is the second batch of bear claws ready?” Heidi asked as she came into the kitchen.

Nina blinked, forgetting for a moment where she was. Half an hour had passed, and she still hadn’t made the glaze for the fresh batch of treats.

“No,” she said, turning instead to a plate of frosted heart-shaped cookies baked in honor of Valentine’s Day. “But these are ready.”

Heidi sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on with the three of you today. I swear, if it weren’t for Brad, John, Julie and I, this place would probably close down.”

Nina rushed around the table. “How do you mean?”

Heidi blinked. “Just look at you. You’re acting like you’re suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s. And I hear the same thing is going on with both Kevin and Gauge.”

Nina’s tongue seemed suddenly too big for her mouth. “Both of them?”

“Are you going to make me repeat everything I say?” She shook her head. “Forget it. You probably aren’t listening to me, anyway.”

She left the room and the door swung back and forth slightly before finally coming to a rest.

Of course, Heidi was right. She wasn’t listening. Had stopped listening the instant the girl had said that both Kevin and Gauge were as distracted as she was.

Could it be…? Was it possible that…?

She squeezed her eyes tightly closed and forced herself to walk to the other side of the table. Wasn’t it bad enough that she’d barely slept since last night? And that when she had finally drifted off, her dreams had been so vivid that she’d have sworn they were real?

God, just look at her. She was a wreck. She’d forgotten to set her alarm and had been late this morning, forgoing her usual shower as she hurried to get dressed to unlock the store, today being her day to open. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail and wore only minimal makeup, determined to throw herself into work to help the time fly by.

Instead it seemed at a standstill.

She sighed heavily and tried to focus on making the glaze for the bear claws.

IF THE DAY had passed by with agonizing slowness, then the moments leading directly up to midnight were pure torture. Nina knelt in the middle of her bed, the blindfold tied tightly, the material of her nightgown rasping against her breasts with every deep breath she drew in.