Free A Chance Encounter by Lindsay McKenna Page A

Grant, was there at her side, laughing, smiling, loving her tenderly….
    Katie’s eyes widened as she unlocked the Unicorn Bookstore at ten o’clock the next morning. A horde of people bearing photographic equipment and television apparatus descended on her. Stunned, Katie was surrounded immediately. She had been awakened at five when the”phone began to dance off the hook. Apparently that had been only the beginning! Helplessly Katie looked up into the predatory faces of the men and women who were pushing and shoving to get closer to her. Panic set in, and she backed into a wall of books. Cameras flashed; the blinding light of several television cameras made her squint. Finally, she held up a hand to protect herself from the onslaught. Only one shred of coherent thought screamed through her stunned mind: Taylor! She had to reach Taylor. He would help her….
    The phone rang shrilly, and Taylor glared at it. If he got one more phone call, he might just rip the cord out of the jack. He’d come to the office early—at seven—only to face a barrage of calls from reporters and newspaper editors from across the United States. Despite the cynical tone of his article, millions of readers were interested in Katie Riordan’s miraculous ability….
    “Hello,” he snarled.
    “Taylor?”
    “Katie? What’s wrong? What is it, sweetheart?” He straightened up in the chair, hearing the panic in her voice.
    “It’s awful, Taylor! There must be thirty reporters and four television news teams here in the bookstore. Please, I need your help. I don’t want to answer their questions! I don’t want the notoriety. Please, come over. I need you.”
    His gray eyes narrowed. “I’ll be right there, princess. Just keep saying ‘no comment’ until I arrive. Do you understand me?”
    “Y-yes,” she stammered. “Please hurry. I feel like some kind of specimen being torn apart….”
    As Taylor came through the door or the Unicorn, his eyes fell on an anguished Katie. She was surrounded by aggressive reporters. Swearing under his breath, he made his way through the mass of journalists until he stood before her. They had backed her up against the desk. Her knuckles were white with tension as she gripped the edge of it. Her eyes were wide with confusion and blurred with unshed tears. He glared at the assembled reporters as his arm went around her shoulder to protect her. More cameras flashed. Video cameras whirred to life. And Taylor felt an anger more chilling than any he could recall. Katie glanced up at him.
    “They won’t listen to me, Taylor.”
    His hand tightened on her shoulder momentarily. “I will. What do you want me to do about this?”
    “Just tell them to go away. I—I don’t want to grant any interviews.” Her voice was low and strained, and he could tell she was fighting to keep herself from crying in front of them.
    “All of you,” he roared above the chaos, “put down your cameras and turn off those damn videos. And give us some breathing room.” His voice was deep with authority. Taylor divided his attention between the sullen news reporters and Katie.
    “Hey! I’m from the National Eagle. I’ve been given the authority to offer Ms. Riordan ten thousand dollars for an exclusive on her story.”
    A tall red-haired woman elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. She glared at the reporter from the Eagle. “That smear sheet!” she snarled. Turning to Taylor, she shouted above the din, “I’m Louella Sharp from the Daily World internet news website, and I’ll give Ms. Riordan twelve thousand for an exclusive on her magic touch!”
    A third reporter shouted. “Fifteen thousand! I’m from the—”
    “There will be no interviews,” Grant said evenly, enunciating each word carefully. “You came stampeding in here like a herd of buffalo, and now you can stampede right back out.”
    “What’s an exclusive, Taylor? Why are they offering me so much money?” Katie asked.
    He gave her a surprised look,