Free Grounded by Jennifer Smith Page A

the cable, her credit cards, Internet service… everything! Not to mention the fact she would need to eat. She had less than two weeks before all her bills were due again, and her final paycheck wouldn’t cover all of them.
    "Thank you very much," she said out loud, not actually addressing anyone in particular. Just then, two young boys rounded the corner and ran straight into her, spilling her box on the sidewalk, and knocking her to the ground.
    "Uh, sorry lady," one of the boys said.
    "Sorry about your stuff," the other one said, and the pair kept going.
    "Yeah, no problem," Patty said and blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. No one else even stopped to help her. "Great, just bloody great! I could use a little help here, people.
    " Somebody. Anybody." She got up and brushed herself off. The heel on her right shoe was broken. It was just too much and she began to cry.
    "Are you all right?"
    Patty looked up to find herself gazing upon the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. And he was not just handsome--he was simpl y beautifu l . Long, blond hair, brilliant blue eyes, a square jaw, cleft chin. Good lord, he looked as if he’d just fallen off Mount Olympus. He looked like a Greek God!
    "Are you all right, Miss?" He asked her again.
    Patty nodded and sniffled.
    "Here’s your things," he said handing her the box with its lid in place.
    "Thank you," Patty said as she wiped at her eyes.
    "You’re not hurt?"
    She shook her head.
    "Okay, then. Good luck to you."
    "Thank you," she said again and watched the man walk away. Then she began limping off in the direction of her apartment, berating herself for acting like a wimp, and an idiot, in front of such a gorgeous hunk of a man!
    Of course she’d be flat of her ass on a sidewalk with a broken heel and her things scattered about when a man like that showed up. She’d never meet anyone that gorgeous when she was dressed to the nines on a Saturday night, ready to go out to the club with her friends. She blew out a breath, and sighed, "Only you, Patty, only you."
    She said hello to the doorman as she entered her building and pushed the button on the elevator. Opening her apartment door, she went inside, dropped the box on the floor, and threw the offending shoe in the garbage. Elton John, a big, gray tabby cat, wound his way through her legs.
    "Hey, big boy, are you hungry? I bet you are," she purred to the cat and picked him up.
    Carrying him with her to the kitchen, she opened a can of food for him, dumped it in his dish and set him on the floor. As the cat settled down to eat, Patty headed into the shower, stripping her clothes off as she walked through her bedroom. She adjusted the water temperature and then stepped under the spray. Standing there with the hot water pounding on her neck and shoulders, she pondered her current options.
    Final paycheck: $850.00.
    Amount in savings account: $52.00.
    Bills coming due: $1,233.00.
    Falling down in front of a Greek God: Priceless!
    "Stupid, stupid, stupid," Patty berated herself as she bounced her forehead off the shower wall. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped her hair in a towel, dried off and went into her bedroom. She put on a clean T-shirt and barely got her sweats on when the buzzer at her front door sounded.
    "Yes?" She held the intercom button down, waiting for a reply.
    "There’s a gentleman here with a delivery for you, Ms. James."
    "Thank you, Eddie. Send him up."
    "Yes, ma’am."
    Patty unwound the towel from her hair and quickly finger-combed her wet
    tresses. "I wonder what it is, Elton," she said to the cat as he rubbed against her leg. There was a knock on the door. "I guess we’ll find out."
    She opened the door then stood there in shocked surprise. She stared, apparently mute and deaf, because she couldn’t speak and she could see the man’s mouth moving, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
    "Are you all right?"
    "Um, I, um… " she said. Standing before her was more than six feet of