Read Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) for Free Online

scowl.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were in jail.” He tossed a plastic dish
he had just washed into the empty sink, where it clanged against the stainless
steel.
    “I was, thanks to you. Now I have two hundred hours of
community service to do, so if you don’t mind, I guess I have to report to you,
as much as I hate to say it.”
    He grabbed my arm roughly, but when his hand touched
my skin, it was surprisingly soft. He dragged me through the busy kitchen to
the front desk, with curious faces staring as we passed.
    Once we were standing in the front hallway, he let go
of me. “You can’t be serious, Julia. I am not working with her.” Disgust
dripped from his words.
    Julia dropped the pen she had been holding and leaned
back in her office chair. “Nate, she’s a volunteer. You are in charge of the volunteers,
remember?”
    “No, she’s not. She’s forced to be here. It’s not the
same thing.”
    “Doesn’t matter the reason, she’s here to help. Now
put her to work.”
    He scowled at me again and then a slow grin appeared
on his face. That grin suddenly made me nervous. “Fine, after you help serve
lunch, you’ll be in charge of cleaning the washrooms.” He leaned against the
desk, crossing his arms in front of him.
    I gulped, but made sure he didn’t notice. “What do you
mean?”
    “You know, cleaning the toilets. I’m sure you’re great
at that, Princess .”
    I cringed inside. He was right. I had never cleaned a
toilet before. Actually, I had never cleaned anything before, but I certainly
wouldn’t be telling him that. All I wanted to do was wipe that smug look off
his face. “Anything I can do to help, is fine with me.” My voice was all
sweetness.
    He scowled again, obviously expecting a different
reaction from me, like maybe running out the door screaming. I wasn’t going to
give him the satisfaction. “Fine, follow me.”
    As I walked away, I thought I saw Julia smile.
     
     
     

Chapter Four
    A Purpose
     
     
    Nate put me with Eddie and Mia, the girl with the pink
stripe in her hair, making sandwiches. As I buttered bread and added ham and
cheese, Eddie chatted with me while Mia ignored us completely.
    He told me tales of growing up on the east side of
Creekford. His family was poor and he grew up trying to stay out of trouble. He
also told me of the times he would steal from the corner store to put food on
the table for his two younger siblings. He never saw his mother and his father
died when he was little. His mother worked two jobs and it still wasn’t enough.
    By the time we were ready to serve the food, I was
almost in tears. I hid it well though. Eddie had no idea who my family was and
I had no intention of telling him.
    “Where are you from, Megan?” he asked after he
finished his latest story.
    Why did he have to ask me that?
    Thankfully, a woman approached me with her plate out.
I asked her what kind of sandwich she wanted. “Roast beef please,” she answered
with a friendly smile. I handed her the sandwich, hoping Eddie would forget his
question. Of course I wasn’t that lucky.
    “Where are you from?” Eddie repeated.
    Nate just happened to be walking behind us and heard
him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, but it was in no way a friendly
gesture. “Didn’t she tell you her last name? She’s a Banks,” he informed the
guy next to me before continuing down the line, checking to see if we had
enough food.
    My cheeks heated, embarrassed for myself and for Eddie.
    “Oh, you’re a Richie, are you? That’s okay, so is boss
man.” He was smiling as he said this. I thought he would feel embarrassed after
telling me about his life, but thankfully he didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
“So what did you do to Nate?”
    I plopped a sandwich on the plate of a man who was
wearing a “Birthday Boy” button on his gray dress shirt He was a large man,
with hair that looked like it had once been black, but there wasn’t much left,
so I couldn’t be