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“That’s fine. No one’s taken it out on me yet.” Glenda was a great

receptionist. In her early thirties, she’d worked a few office jobs before.

Christina didn’t know that for sure, but she assumed so, just going by how

Glenda knew her way around. “She’s been waiting patiently. I offered her a

drink, but she declined. Got here early for her appointment, unfortunately.”

Christina gave an appreciative nod and Glenda turned back around at

her desk. She was sorting out stacks of mail, both ingoing and outgoing.

A quick glance at the clock on the wall told Christina that she was

indeed twenty-five minutes late for her appointment time. She dodged past

the reception desk, and apology on the tip of her tongue, but when she got

closer to the white square chairs on the far side of the room, a messy stack

of sandy blonde hair just about caused her to bite her tongue instead. She

forgot all about what she was going to say and had to swallow thickly to

keep a surprised exclamation from tumbling out.

The woman turned her head and a pair of burning, moss green eyes

landed on Christina. Oddly enough, her heart started banging hard in her

chest.

“Hi. I’m Christina.” She forced herself to extend a hand, but the motion

felt jerky to her.

She knew she was already off her game and appraised the woman

quickly. She was wearing a dark black blazer with a blue blouse below, and

a black pencil skirt. It only took Christina’s trained eye a few seconds to see

that none of the clothing matched. The black was off a shade. The jacket

didn’t fit well in the shoulders and was left open because it probably didn’t

fit properly across the bust either. The blouse was tucked in neatly to a skirt

that was cheaply made. The woman’s shapely legs were covered with black

hose which ended in a set of black heels which were probably a decade old,

even if they were polished nicely.

“Taylor.” A warm, slender hand clasped Christina’s. The voice was

soft, with the familiar Texas drawl. The name flowed off Taylor’s tongue.