Taken by Tuesday
Page 40

Samantha knelt down, scooped her flowers into her hands, and hugged her son. “Thank you so much. They’re lovely.”
“Daddy says boys give girls flowers.”
“They do.”
Eddie’s big eyes took in Meg’s presence and he turned around and ran back outside.
Samantha put into motion a team of movers to come to the house and, with Meg’s direction, remove the files and everything Alliance, and move it to Beverly Hills.
With a handful of dirt-filled flowers, Meg waved good-bye to her boss and waited for the additional help.
It was after noon when Rick made his way into the house. He stopped at the office door and frowned. “What’s going on?”
Meg continued to pack a box and seal it with packing tape. “What are the chances of this place being searched?”
Rick dropped his keys and cell on the top of the desk with a sigh and helped her pack.
“Hey, babe?” Rick said when Judy walked into the foyer of her work at the end of the day. In his hand were three pink roses.
“You didn’t have to.” But she had to admit she was happy he did.
“I told you I was picking you up.”
She sniffed the flowers and smiled. “The flowers, you didn’t have to.”
“Doesn’t that make them more special?” He handed them to her and removed the tube from her hand.
“Thanks.”
He turned to Nancy, who was packing up her things. “Are you walking out?” he asked.
“I-I’m in the garage. Just waiting on the group I walk out with.”
The office buzzed about the attack in hushed tones all day. Judy knew her presence would get people talking, but for the most part, no one treated her differently.
Like when he’d dropped her off, he parked in front of the building in what was usually reserved for loading and unloading. The security guard outside the building waved and smiled at Rick as he walked by.
“I take it you made some new friends.”
He opened her door and tucked the tube in the backseat. “I’d rather not be responsible for your car getting towed.”
Rick pulled into the mass exodus of traffic and drove in the opposite direction of home.
“How was your day?”
He looked over the rim of his sunglasses. “I’m much more interested in yours.”
She reflected on it as she watched the cars around them. “Good. It was nice to get back to work, do stupid meaningless crap most of the day that kept my mind away from . . . well, away.”
“You went to lunch with someone from the office like I suggested?”
“Nancy. She wanted to know all about you.”
He lent a smile but didn’t comment.
“Where are we going?”
He inched through the street traffic at a crawl. “It’s not the Getty. Just a dinner date to celebrate you getting back to work.”
“You used to ask and now you’re just going for it, eh?”
She really did love his smile. “Yep, that’s about it.”
Cozy and tucked back from the main road, Carino’s tempted her taste buds the moment she stepped from the car. “I love Italian.”
“Much as I want you to think I’m a genius, I asked Meg. She said you and pasta were like this.” He lifted his hand and crossed two fingers.
They walked hand in hand into the restaurant, where the aroma seeped into her pores.
The hostess seated them immediately when Rick told her his name. There was already wine at the table. “Wow. Impressive.”
“That’s me, Mr. Impressive.”
While she settled behind the table, Rick poured the wine and lifted his glass. “To saying good-bye to the word babe.”
Judy held her glass but didn’t clink his. “To first dates.”
She wasn’t a huge wine drinker, but the red was light enough to tempt her into another taste shortly after the first. “I don’t know what impressed me more, the fact that you asked Meg what I liked, or that you confessed asking her for the information.”
“It’s useful having your girlfriend’s roommate working within shouting distance. It will be strange without her there.”
Judy opened the menu. “Where is she going?”
“She and Samantha moved the office today.”
“Why?”
The waiter arrived to tell them the specials before disappearing. Rick’s lack of answering the question made her think he’d forgotten it. “Why did they move?”
He took a sip and looked inside the glass. “This isn’t half bad.”
Now she knew he was avoiding. “Rick!”
He toyed with his glass. “The nature of Alliance is all about privacy. They’re a little concerned about the police searching the house.”
Oh . . . oh. “You’re really worried they’ll try and pin this on you.”
“I’m not worried. Not about me.”
That made one of them.
He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Let’s talk about something pleasant. Something we can actually control.”
“There has to be a way we can control this.”
“If you figure it out, you need to let me know. Now, tell me about the project you brought home with you.”
Thankful for the distraction, she launched into her design ideas and really loved how Rick listened and asked questions. “I know Ms. Miller won’t pick my design, but to think something grabbed her attention enough to ask me to work on it is huge.”
“Don’t doubt yourself, Utah. Zach and Michael have both told me how talented you are. Who knows where this will take you.”
She pushed her plate aside, surprised at how much she’d managed to eat. Rick eyed her leftovers and she pushed the plate closer to him. That man really packed it away and yet didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. “Where do you put it?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s the workout.”
She knew he must dedicate some serious hours to keeping himself in shape, but she’d not seen him actually do anything but drive her around and come to her rescue. “What’s your routine?”
“My workout?”
The wine gave her a nice little buzz, which beat the headache that seemed to plague her daily since the attack. “Yeah.”
“A little cardio, a little weights, a lot of laps through the boot camp track at the park.”
“Boot camp track? What’s that?”
“I’m sure it’s not called that. There’s a hill course by the house with stops every quarter mile with different activities. Pull-ups, push-ups, stuff like that.”