him, in rather colorful language, that you’d rather have your brain ripped out through your nostrils.”
Alyssa laughed. She remembered that conversation. Her father wanted her to go to college. She had no desire to do it. He wanted a lawyer or a doctor in the family. His boys seemed determined to just go into the military; he wanted his girls to be the geniuses in the family. Eve was close. But even she hadn’t gone for the career their father wanted. He wanted a prestigious doctor, lawyer, professional he could brag about. Eve’s work now was worth bragging about for him, and he never let her forget it whenever they talked. Maybe that’s why they hadn’t talked much. Even at Thomas’ wedding he had taken the time to assure her that she could have done so much better. It didn’t matter that she had her own business, that she designed her own jewelry and made every piece herself on top of that. Nothing mattered to him except the fact that she wasn’t famous, or wealthy, or worth bragging about.
She sobered quickly. She was in a world of mess right now and she couldn’t add thinking about her father to the pile. “I have to do this. What other options do I have here? I swear I am so never hiring anybody ever again. Once the Row is robbery free and Shane decides to leave I’m going back to my just me shop and being done with it.”
She spent a few more minutes listening to her sister. Eve, the new voice of reason in her life, assured her that things would work out and she shouldn’t stress herself out about it. Right, things were going to work out all right. She turned around and used the phone-fax machine to fax the papers to her attorney. She was going to need his help—boy, was she going to need it.
Shane had seen the female officer enter the premises. He saw the papers being served, and while he wanted to go out there and find out what was going on he didn’t overstep his position. Besides, he could easily find out because he had installed a state of the art security system that allowed him to zoom in on specific areas of the store. He had used it quite often to zoom in on that beautiful face of hers. There was a definite advantage to being at the helm; he could watch her whenever he wanted. Maybe that was unfair, but he couldn’t help it. She was the most beautiful woman he had seen in a long time, and it wasn’t just physically, she was sweeter than sugar, smart, determined—she was all woman and he liked her. He liked her a lot.
He was doing his job too. He could multi task, but he also knew how to focus. When somebody was in the store he stayed vigilant. He had set up cameras in her store that covered every angle, and still managed to get clear images of the people passing by on the street. He set one up outside the back parameter as well. One could never be too careful in his opinion. When she was alone in the store, tinkering with a clasp on a piece of jewelry or working on something, even if she was just flipping through a catalog, he found himself watching her. Yesterday she had on a pair of black pants and a fitted red top. Today she had on white pants with a corset like spring green top. Her bare shoulders looked smooth like brown velvet and he wanted to reach out and touch them. Now wasn’t the time, but soon, he hoped; soon he would make his move.
He zoomed in on the papers enough to know she was headed for trouble. Then, when she was having the conversation with her sister he heard every word, or at least her words. The walls weren’t thick and he could hear everything she said. Some people just couldn’t take rejection, but that wasn’t a reason for a lawsuit. He hoped the presiding judge would feel the same way and quickly dismiss the case otherwise Alyssa was in for a long battle with the man. She didn’t need this. She didn’t deserve it, but it was happening to her nonetheless.
He watched her brush her hand through her hair, pushing the long wavy locks off her shoulder. Her hair was so soft that it just fell right back into place. She pushed