Curve Effect (A BBW Box Set of Contemporary, Science Fiction and Paranormal Romances) by Vremont Ann

Author:Vremont, Ann [Vremont, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 2014-03-02T05:00:00+00:00

Curve Muse

The knock on Bryce Schoene’s front door sounded tentative, as if the visitor questioned whether it was the right apartment. Bryce’s gaze dropped to the bottom right corner of her computer screen where the time showed a few minutes before five o’clock.

She ignored the knocking. Ninety to one odds, it was a stranger confused by the lack of apartment numbers. Squaring her shoulders, she focused on the blank Word file in front of her. It was Friday and—graduate degree hanging in the balance—she had a paper due Monday.

She sorted through the jumble of ideas she had brainstormed on the bus ride home from campus, their previous brilliance extinguished by more careful thought. The knock came again, more assured this time, and Bryce chewed at her bottom lip. She considered starting the story with a knock on the door. But who would be on the other side, and why?

The visitor spoke on the third round of knocking, both the words and raps coming sharp and fast. “I can hear you thinking in there. Open up!”

The odd choice of words broke her concentration.

Hear me thinking?

Bryce swiveled the office chair until she faced the door. Despite the heavy muffle of oak, she could tell the visitor was a woman, the voice feminine and totally unfamiliar.

“Yes, I said ‘thinking’. Open the door, Bryce,” the woman called again. “I certainly don’t have all weekend to stand around.”

She knows my name? The chair groaned in protest as Bryce rose, and she winced. She walked quietly to the door, hoping the visitor was only bluffing and hadn’t heard the chair’s squeak.

“Come on, doll baby, this won’t take long.”

Despite the endearment, the woman didn’t sound anything other than persistent—and likely to draw a crowd from among the many nosy neighbors whose apartments ringed the building’s courtyard. Just imagining a week or more worth of curious looks from her neighbors made Bryce’s skin crawl.

Approaching the door from the side, she reached up and slid the chain lock into place. Then she undid the top two deadbolts and slowly turned the doorknob. Nervous energy ran through her hand and arm, and it took her a few seconds to realize she had opened the door as wide as the chain allowed.

The two inch slice of open door revealed a petite blonde, with powder blue eyes and a slash of killer red lipstick slickening her wide mouth. Except for the peek of black boots from beneath her pants, red leather hugged her slim frame. The material’s shade, slightly darker than the lipstick, dipped toward a dried crimson.

She looked, Bryce thought, like she’d just finished a shift on the corner of Hooker and Vine.

“‘Hooker and Vine?’ Is this how you start all job interviews?” the woman asked.

Bryce jerked back from the door, and her brows knitted together over whether she’d actually voiced the insult. The question was abruptly pushed out of her mind as the woman’s second question sank in.

“Job interview?” It sounded like a sales pitch. Dressed like she was, the woman definitely had something to sell.

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