Love Me: The Complete Series by Shelley K. Wall Page A

wanted a dog. What about you? You live with any other creatures?
    For a living? Own my own business. Just getting started and it’s a little scary.
    Impressive. He keyed in a response.
    Everything in life is scary if you think about it too much. Just keep moving. You’ll do great. Take my word on this: No one ever fails that doesn’t give up
.
    Yeah, it sounded a little too preachy but she obviously needed a little encouragement. The pop-up surprised him with an instant response.
    She Hearts Dogs: Thanks! Think I’ll print that and put it in my pocket. May need to refer back to it whenever I start to question my sanity
.
    Carter chuckled, mainly because he should probably do the same. He clicked in a short answer.
    Sanity? What’s that? No such thing in today’s world. Though if you’re starting out on your own, I’d say you’re pretty sane. Brave as hell too. Why haven’t I met you yet?
    He watched the screen till a response popped up.
    She Hearts Dogs: Awww. Wish that brave thing were true. The reality is I come from a large family where everyone jumps right into the family business straight out of college. I guess I’m the only rebel. I tried it for a while but wanted more. The thought of doing it for the rest of my life was worse than eating worms
.
    Not sure why I couldn’t force myself to take the safe road—life would have been a lot less complicated
.
    Yeah, well, complications happen regardless. He shrugged. When the office phone blared, he jolted. The receptionist announced Abby’s arrival. He thrust his phone into his pocket, grabbed his keys, and headed to the lobby.
    She had her hair pulled into a ponytail and some silver hoops dangled from her ears. Was she wearing lipstick? Her lips were a little full anyway, but that was certainly … attention grabbing.
    She met him halfway across the floor and reached a hand out to shake his. Fingernail polish, a skirt, and—heels. He flicked a glance at the tight lines of muscles just above her knees. It was a paradox. A damn teaser how her legs could be so toned from running yet he knew the skin to be soft, not hard. Or at least the skin on her face and arms, what little he’d touched.
    Damn if there wasn’t a perverted desire to skip the office tour and get her out of the office. Alone. Would it terrify her?
    “You look good.” It was the only thing he could think of because, for some stupid reason, he’d lost his voice and just stared like an idiot.
    “Thanks.” She grinned. “It took twenty minutes to scrub the dirt from my fingernails. I finally gave up and just painted them.” She held up five digits and wiggled them in his face. Was that why she always wore nail polish?
    The receptionist watched with a dark scowl. Carter put a hand to Abby’s back and pressed her toward the elevator, speaking loud enough to calm curious ears. “Okay, let’s take the tour. We have about twenty areas I thought could use something. We’re not touching the individual offices. Just the community spaces and meeting rooms. The lobby you saw. The rest is this way.”
    When the elevator doors closed, she turned toward him. “You know the person who greets visitors sets the tone for your business. It’s the first impression one gets.”
    He lifted a brow and leaned against the wall. “What are you trying to say?” He stared at the red polish as she pushed a loose hair back from her face.
    She shrugged. “Nothing. Maybe she was just having a bad day.”
    Badeep deep.
    The noise came from her phone and she reached in her purse, shuffled around, then turned as the elevator opened. “Sorry about that. I turned it off.”
    “You can answer it if you need to. It might be business.”
    “No, Caroline’s taking care of things. No one would call me. Show me.” She held those shiny nails out and gestured him to lead the way. Which, for some reason, sent heat straight to parts of him that wanted those nails anywhere and everywhere
but
the public meeting rooms of his