A Good Little Girl Like You (A Sample)

Wednesday, September 19

O.E. left the hospital and moved into Dan Avery's place.

Now that Rebecca had this address, he had to start using it.

What if she showed up unannounced, ready to tear off her

clothes and jump him?

I can dream, can't I? What was more likely, but still

wishful thinking on his part, was that she would come over

for a visit and then stay a while. The place needed to look

like he really did live there.

Dan had a decent home, convenient to many upscale

restaurants and clubs, and in one of the best parts of the

city. But his three story brownstone sat right at street level,

too close to the chaotic city life. O.E. vastly preferred to be

forty stories higher.

And Dan had very little help, just an occasional

cleaning service. O.E. had Emeline to manage his place,

which made everything much easier to handle. He should

have asked her to deal with this place, but instead he had

given her the month off. He laughed at the lifestyle that

he'd grown accustomed to. Nobody cleaned up after him

when he was young.

O.E. got settled and was finishing lunch when Warren

Benson, his financial advisor, came for a meeting. Warren

was a good advisor and had made some very profitable

decisions. He wanted to review some accounts and get O.E.'s

opinion. This could have been done by e-mail, but Warren

liked to meet in person, so O.E. invited him over.

Warren entered tentatively, looking around as if he

expected to be thrown out at any moment. At a height of

6'7", he was usually the tallest man in any room and

towered over O.E. by a full six inches. In addition to being

tall, he had a solid girth that was hard to ignore. The man

had a seriously imposing presence, especially when he wore

a nice suit. Unfortunately, he sometimes seemed a little

awkward. Like right now.

Warren fidgeted and turned to his boss with one

eyebrow arched. "Why aren't you at home?"

Certainly not because I like this place better. O.E. waved

Warren in and pointed to the sofa in the living room. They

sat down, and O.E. explained his situation through a

clamped mouth. "Broke my jaw. Wired shut."

Warren's mouth dropped. "You're kidding! Are you all

right?" He got up and reached out toward O.E.'s jaw.

O.E. snapped his head back and brought his hands up

to defend against the big man's touch. Warren was a fine

businessman, but there was no telling how much damage