Read Now or Never for Free Online Page B

cabinets. No wonder she didn’t want him looking in them. There wasn’t a damn thing in there.
    “Why didn’t you tell me we were out of food?”
    “Because it doesn’t matter. We don’t get paid for two more days.”
    “I could have—”
    “No, Jay. There’s nothing either of us could have done about it. It’s fine. We aren’t completely out. There’re a couple of cans of soup under the sink. And, we both work tomorrow, so we can grab something there.”
    As long as they weren’t greedy about it, Bart didn’t mind the staff snacking on leftovers or returned meals in the kitchen.
    “Fine. At least let me make you some soup. You need to eat, Em.”
    “So do you, Jay.”
    “I ate.” Dammit all to hell. Em had been sitting around hungry all day while he’d been eating with Sahara. This shit wasn’t supposed to happen anymore.

 
     
    Chapter Eight
     
     
    Em
     
    Morning rolled around lazily. They were finally back to working their normal shifts, closing together, so there was no rush to get moving. Em lounged in bed, while Jay made it his mission to find s omething for them to eat for breakfast.
    Twenty minutes later, she was beginning to wonder if he’d called in a search party. Or crawled into a bare cabinet and gotten lost.
    “Jay?” Em finished buttoning her pants as she made her way toward the kitchen. “Where did you—?”
    The doorbell cut her off just as she stepped into the living room. Switching directions, she headed across the cold wood floor toward the front door. They rarely had visitors, so she pulled it open with a healthy dose of caution.
    “Good morning.” A tall man with broad shoulders and close cropped dark hair stood on the porch.
    “Morning.”
    He grinned. “How are you doing . . .?”
    “Em,” she supplied automatically. “And I’m fine, thanks. Is there something I can help you with?”
    “Nice to meet you.”
    He held out his hand and Em’s anxiety shot up, but she choked it back. She couldn’t spend forever a fraid to touch people. After all, he was probably some neighbor that had finally gotten around to welcoming them to the neighborhood, or something. How would it look if she refused to even shake his hand?
    Stifling the cringe that threatened to surface, she forced herself to relax and allow him to encase her small hand in his much larger one. His grip was hard and when she pulled back, he failed to release her, doubling Em’s heart rate.
    “Where’s Julian?” It took her a moment to register who he was looking for, having only heard Jay’s real name once before.
    “Why are you looking for him?”
    “Who is it, babe?” Jay came up behind her and Em turned just in time to see him freeze in his tracks. For a seemingly endless moment, Jay just stared at the man at the do or, but his eyes were so cloudy she doubted he was really seeing him at all.
    “Jay?” Her voice snapped him back from wherever he’d gone and he stepped forward, wrapping a strong arm around her waist and hauling her backward into his chest. His heart was beating so hard she could feel it pounding against her spine.
    “What are you doing here?” Jay’s voice was deceptively low, but there was no mistaking the tremor of fear behind it.
    “I want the money.”
    Money? What money? Em’s mind scrambled to play catch up. They didn’t have any money. They’d spent his grandparent’s money on the house and . . . His grandparent’s money . The money Jay’s father had been using until he inherited it when he turned eighteen.
    Oh, crap.
    Jay’s arm was like a steel band around her middle, but it melted away under her gentle prying. Stepping away from him, Em gripped the door so hard her fingers ached. She really wanted to grip something else, like that bastard’s throat.
    “You need to leave. Now. And if you ever come near us again, I’ll call the police.” She slammed the door with a force that surprised even her and made every frame in the house rattle.
    When she turned