page34 (1/2)

And he did watch her He watched her always, watched her with intense speculation A snake in the desert A hawk in the sky He was si

Waiting

Tally ground her teeth, tensionher shoulders, head, jaw ache “I wasn’t raised with e At least, not away, not to the good ones, the expensive ones My younger sister, Mandy, got an athletic scholarship to Washington State University and one of ton while another went to school in California—but that’s because they played sports I didn’t”

“So what did you do?”

She looked at hi as she bit down once and again Godda questions Stupid annoying facts He was a sheikh and she was a poor church mouse

From a trailer park

From North Bend

Froot more rain and cloud than sun

She sighed, rubbed her neck, stretched a little Her head hurt, filled with strange pain and she’d thought it was tension, but wasn’t so sure anye” She sed, herthick, numb at the tip “Took courses there and then went to work”

“I’ve heard of Bellevue Home of Microsoft, and Bill Gates, yes?”

“More or less” She closed her eyes, woozy Tally drew a deep breath and then another Maybe it was just re the past that ered all these years later

Why tell him the truth about her past? Why did he need to know her real world? There was no reason he should have all the details

She sith difficulty, her throat thickening Wouldn’t it be better to just pretend she was soo with the rich and fashionably chic world of Bellevue instead of the dae? Pretend she shopped at Bellevue Square instead of North Bend’s outlet stores? Pretend she had money to spend in the first place…?

“You didn’t play sports?” Tair asked, persisting with his line of questioning

His voice seemed to come from far away She looked at him, forced herself to focus “No Not really” Her forehead furrowed as she looked at a spot on the low table between theh school Volleyball” She suddenly sood Not the tallest, but dang, she’d been fast, and aggressive Tally had gone after every ball…