Page 8 of Love Walked In

CHAPTER SIX

Mari

The next day, the jet lag was even worse.

My skull felt too small for my brain, my joints ached like I’d been rolled through a pasta machine, and saying I felt tired was like saying that the North Pole felt cold.

But all things were possible with help from ibuprofen and caffeine.

I stormed through my morning routines, propelled through showering, getting dressed, and eating breakfast by Leo Ross’s know-it-all face, his self-righteous voice.

I waited until Leo was holed up in his office for the morning, then I dug cardboard boxes and tape out of a storage closet and carried them up to the history section.

Last night, when everyone had gone home, I’d dug into the Ross my joints ached and my head throbbed. But going upstairs for my silver parka wasn’t worth the possibility of another blast of Leo’s contempt. “I’ll walk fast. Back soon.”

“Don’t get lost!” Graham called after me as I walked up the street.

A tiny part of my brain replied, Too late .