Enchanted Read Free

her to the system and never came back to claim her. Honestly, she didn’t know what love comprised, but it certainly wasn’t what she experienced when seeing the illusionist.
    She was tempted to take Marcy up on her offer, but she resisted. When she answered, she kept her voice even, refusing to allow her emotions to show. “I can’t believe you’ve fallen under that guy’s spell.”
    “Everyone has. I thought for sure you would too, but–”
    Caitlyn interrupted her. She didn’t want to open a conversation concerning Shay Evers. “Thanks for the invitation, but no. If Kramer doesn’t do what I know he will, I want to go home and relax in a hot bubble bath. Given a choice between Shay Evers and suds, I’ll take the suds.”
    Without meaning to, she mentally compared her tub filled with warm water and brimming with bubbles to meeting and speaking to the superstar. An image of Evers reclining in the tub appeared in her mind, his dark hair shining in candlelight, a lean hand raised, beckoning her to join him. She straightened, fighting the sudden heat pumping through her veins. “Listen, I hate to cut you short, but Kramer doesn’t like waiting.”
    “Oh, sure thing,” her friend said. “Call me in the morning so I can fill you in.”
    Caitlyn agreed with a laugh and placed the receiver on its cradle. No use putting it off any longer. She needed to accept the fact that after she left Kramer’s office she would probably have to start job hunting. After a deep breath she stood, locked her purse in her desk and tugged at the hem of her business suit jacket.
    With her chin up, she headed for Kramer’s office. The labyrinth of the newsroom outside her cubicle stretched in front of her. Desks and hinged partitions sectioned the area for the reporters and other employees. The huge room, flanked on one side with windows, smelled of burnt lint from the heating unit. The unit didn’t do a great job keeping the chill out, but the sheer number of the bustling news people kept the temperature bearable. When she reached the far end and came to a short hallway, she slowed. Kramer’s office was the second door to the left.
    For a moment she considered how she would respond if he laid her off. Not good. She gritted her teeth as pride forced her forward. Her knock landed harder than she intended, stinging her knuckles.
    She’d worked relentlessly on her college degree in mass communications just to become a reporter. She wasn’t going to exit this job with meek submission. Her inner strength had sustained her through the time social workers removed her from her parents’ house and placed her in several foster homes. She’d been bounced around, but she’d never allowed the fear of the unknown to show.
    Even at this moment, her fear remained hidden. She wasn’t about to let Kramer see any weakness in her now. She swiped her damp palms over the sides of her jacket, hoping he wanted to compliment her and not lay her off.
    The low response through the door tightened her nerves. The knob twisted under her palm, and she pushed the door open. When she crossed the room, the burnt smell from the furnace heating the building sharpened in the enclosed space. Her eyes burned. Afternoon sunlight poured from the windows behind the manager’s desk and filled the office. She stared for a second at the shiny spot on top of Mike Kramer’s bald head, amazed at the slickness of the surface.
    “Reiley. Take a seat.”
    Caitlyn tried not to stare but after not seeing her boss for a few days, she had forgotten his size. The middle-aged manager’s abdomen ballooned from an excessive habit of fast food and more than a few beers. The buttons on his white shirt strained for freedom. With him sitting forward, his belly nearly flowed over the edge of the desk. He filled his chair like a packed sardine.
    For several moments, a calculating expression covered his ruddy face. The dark moustache over his upper lip twitched as he stared at a yellow