Free Yesterday's Tomorrows by M. E. Montgomery Page B

turned the computer screen toward me and sure enough there on the screen were some triangles on a grid and some mathematical-looking markings.
    Geometry? I'd gotten hard over a fucking math problem?
    "Oh." Lame, but it was all I had at the moment.
    Her eyes darkened and narrowed. "What did you think I was doing?"
    I did what any smart man would do; I remained silent and took a step backward, trying discreetly to adjust myself. Yep, that law degree was coming in handy now. She seemed genuinely confused until she saw my movement near my crotch and revelation flashed in her eyes. The way her mouth twisted in a snarl, I swear she looked like a she-wolf ready to launch herself at me.
    "Oh, my God! You thought I was having phone sex, didn't you?"
    Maybe honesty was the best policy. "Well, imagine hearing it from my point of view. I heard words like 'long' and 'hard' and 'finish off' and I'm a guy, so yes, I guess my mind went there. Hardly anyone but the cleaning crew works this late, and I just assumed anyone still here was up to no good."
    I tried to plead my case, but even I knew the defense was weak. A better man would have looked at the evidence first and then asked questions. My tired and emotional brain had irrationally jumped to the wrong conclusion.
    "Circumstantial evidence. You must be a great lawyer," she spat. "Do you always judge everyone before you know all the facts? Or are you so hell-bent on fitting me into your preconceived idea that there's no room for questions?"
    The she-wolf took a step toward me and raised her hand. I prepared myself for the claws I deserved. They didn't strike. What did were the words she flung at me. "You," her chest heaved as she pointed her finger at me, "you really think that badly of me, don't you? You don’t know me. You think because I served time in prison that I must have no character whatsoever; that I always make poor choices. Well, for your information, I...I...oh, never mind. You're going to think what you will anyway."
    She turned away, but not before I saw the glitter of tears in her eyes. She began to pack some paper and a computer tablet into a bag.
    "Madelyn --" I didn't know what to say, how to make this right. But I knew I had to try. I saw something break in her as she was speaking, and I hated being responsible for it. "I'm sorry. Even if I thought what I did, I should have confirmed it before I accused you. I know better than that, and I'm truly sorry."
    She didn't say anything, just sniffed and shrugged her small shoulders.
    I grasped her forearm and tried to gently turn her to look at me. "I really am sorry."
    Slowly she twisted toward me, and my heart broke at the devastated look on her face.
    "You know," she whispered hoarsely, "I heard you that day you told me to look in the mirror. I heard what you were trying to tell me - that I had a chip on my shoulder, and that I shut people down without giving them a chance. It doesn't take a genius to see that I reject them before they can reject me. But how can I move past that when there will always be people like you who never consider there might be more to me? You say I sit on my high horse, but you sit in your...your pristine ivory tower ready to launch arrows coated in condescending barbs at those you think are beneath you."
    I flinched at her words. God, this woman knew how to deliver a punch and drive me insane, even if she was a bit melodramatic.
    "Dramatic much?" Yeah, that probably didn't help my cause much.
    She glared at me. "If the shoe fits..."
    All my emotions flooded to the surface.
    "If I live in an ivory tower, then it was built and dirtied with my own blood, sweat, and tears, sweetheart. And I don't mean just hard work. I've experienced loss and seen the worst of what humanity has to offer." I moved forward until I backed her against the table where she'd been sitting, bracing one arm on the table and one on her chair, caging her until I could inhale her vanilla scent and my breath gently stirred a few