Page 35 of Monster's Edge
He can’t know about Ian.
“Why would you be looking for me?” I ask Lorenzo, pushing the situation back on him. He’s not my boss. He’s not even sort-of my boss. In fact, we’re basically equals here. I’m sure that back home, if he really is working for my dad, he’s got an important position that peopleknowabout and care about.
Here, though, he’s just himself. He’s just some dude I work with. The two of us don’t interact very much on purpose. It’s easy enough to avoid him since the other ladies who work at the shelter all seem to like him. Even the volunteers are all smitten with Lorenzo. Robert, too. I think it’s because they both give off these bad-boy vibes.
Good for them.
He seems surprised at my response. He falters for just a second before he shakes his head, clearing it.
“No reason,” he says. “Susan just had a few questions for you about the adoption paperwork you did earlier.”
The adoption paperwork I was working on when Ian waltzed into the shelterhimselfand whisked me away. Is that the paperwork he’s talking about? Is this his way of telling me he knows I was with Ian?
Or am I completely freaking out over nothing?
“No problem,” I shrug. I gesture for Lorenzo to get out of my desk chair. I’m the receptionist on duty today, after all. Our jobs rotate, but this one is mine right now. He stands and steps away. I notice a bulge in his jeans pocket as he moves. It’s not a gun. It’s too small. There’s something there, though.
Is he carrying a different kind of weapon?
Shit.
I paste a smile on my face as I take my place. “Let Susan know I’m available to go over the paperwork with her whenever she wants,” I tell him. Then I lift up the receiver of the phone and start dialing a familiar number. Our food supplier is fantastic, but I do have to call pretty regularly. It’s not unusual for me to call this number and Lorenzo knows it. He stands there watching me until the phone is picked up and I grin brightly and start talking in my best customer-service voice.
“Glenn? Yeah, hi! It’s Rose! How are you? No! Really?”
I ignore Lorenzo and pretend to be completely enamored with Glenn’s story about a grandchild who just started walking. A few minutes later when Glenn comes up for air and Lorenzo is long gone, I hear a bit of confusion in Glenn’s voice.
“Rose? Was there a problem with your order?”
“Not at all,” I tell Glenn. “I just wanted to check in with you and make sure you were doing okay.”
If only I was that good of a person.
I’m not.
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