Loco Read Free Page B

Intrigued, he waited for her to clairify.
    She shrugged. "By the time you finished saying his name, you'd have already missed the off ramp."
    Tanner chuckled. Interesting sense of humor. Something nice to look at and entertaining. A neighbor worth keeping.
    "I made strawberry muffins this morning. I gave your friend a couple. Then Hercules ate yours." She grinned up at him. Her green eyes flashed with mischief.
    "Leaving me to starve, huh?"
    She nodded. "Yep." Taking a step closer, she sniffed. "The bar scene?"
    Startled by her accurate guess, he remained mute while unloading the groceries, setting each item on the counter.
    "Tomcats. Every one of them," she mumbled under her breath as she turned to leave.
    Not willing to argue when she obviously hit the nail on the head, he called after her, "Don't you work?" He expected her to be away from home this morning; it was a weekday, after all.
    "I teach online classes at Hilltop Junior College," Oakley said over her shoulder as she sashayed out his door.
    A moment later he heard a click, signifying she had returned to her side of the condo.
    Oakley taught junior college? The more he thought about it, the more it fit. The online classes she could manage from home, which explained why she seemed to be home all the time. Not a bad deal, he would imagine. Saves on gas money and allows for great flexibility for her running. Smart woman.
    Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on putting away the newly purchased food items so he could hit the shower. After that, sleep called.

Chapter 4

    Oakley propped her feet up on a spare fold-out chair, busily clicking away on the keys of her laptop. The sun shone brightly, but the temperatures had taken a dip with a recent cold front, making it feel more like a gorgeous early spring day than near summer. Certainly, the rare mixture of comfortable temperature and slight breeze dictated she plant herself outside, avoiding the den of darkness inside. Hercules roamed the backyard, sniffing here and there before finally settling down under a nearby shade tree to watch life in the form of squirrels and people walking the park trail a distance way pass him by.
    She loved her job and truly lucked out in finding it. Armed with two masters degrees, one in health, the other in nutrition, she approached Hilltop last year, hoping to land an instructor position since she loved the community and would only have a short drive to work; the smaller junior college appealed to her much more than a large university. They hired her to instruct online classes and she reveled in the luxury. Not everyone garnered the opportunity to work from home, make their own hours, and have more time off than a regular worker per week.
    Instructor pay through the college wasn't something to sneeze at, but Oakley taught a self-defense class through the local Y each week to supplement her income. Besides the extra money, it allowed her to practice her skills, socialize with people, and help others, particularly women, learn to defend themselves in case of emergency. She liked to believe her classes boosted their confidence, empowered them, and provided a necessary tool for those women in today's world.
    Her relationship with martial arts had begun her freshman year in college. Sarah, her overly shy roommate, had needed some social skills when it came to dealing with the opposite sex, so Oakley had taken it upon herself to introduce Sarah to Matt, a guy in her algebra class that had seemed nice and outgoing enough to make up for Sarah's uncertainty. Not only had she introduced them, but she'd set them up on a date.
    Unfortunately, Matt's outward appearance had covered up a monster underneath. Sarah had returned from her date, battered and bruised, following a horrid date rape. The images replayed through Oakley's mind as if it were yesterday.

    Oakley glanced up when Sarah walked back into their dorm room, stunned and shocked at the woman standing before her. Where a shy, but pretty