Legacy of Love - By Donna Hill Page 0,4

I help you?” the young woman behind the counter asked.

“Two large mangos, to go,” Zoe said and took out her Pinkberry purchase card to be stamped. The frozen yogurt place was Zoe and Sharlene’s guilty pleasure. They’d bought enough frozen yogurt to own stock in the company.

“Why do we love this stuff so much?” Sharlene cooed as she took her first lick.

“I have no idea.” Zoe swallowed the naturally sweet treat and sighed in delight.

They pushed through the doors and back out into the afternoon.

“I’m going to head back,” Zoe said and kissed Sharlene’s cheek.

“I need to make a stop first. Talk to you later.”

They waved and headed off in opposite directions.

Zoe returned to the museum and was pleased to find that foot traffic had picked up in her absence. Museums were struggling all over the country and were usually the first institutions to feel the cuts in grants and sponsorship. Part of her role was to seek out funding; the funding that not only helped to pay staff but covered the costs of installing new works and putting up shows.

At times it was difficult. But the High Museum was more fortunate than most, and at least for now she could continue to look for those rare pieces that would attract crowds.

She crossed the expanse of the main exhibit floor, took the first right turn and walked down the empty corridor that echoed her footsteps to her office at the end of the hallway. If she was planning to take off on Friday, she needed to make sure that everything was in order. Even though Mike was more than capable of handling any problems in her absence, she’d rather not leave anything to chance. As she was settling down behind her desk, her body suddenly grew warm and a heady, manly scent drifted under her nose. Her heart thumped in her chest. She felt light-headed as if she’d stood up too quickly.

“Hey, how was lunch?”

Zoe blinked, gripped the armrests of her chair and forced herself to focus.

Mike stepped in. A frown drew a line between his brows. “You, okay? You looked frightened.”

Zoe swallowed and ran her tongue across her dry lips. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She made herself smile. “Frightened?” She sputtered a laugh and turned on her computer. “Of what, you?” she teased.

Mike checked her out for a moment more. “Yeah, okay.” He shrugged. “I signed off on the schedule for next week and Linda has a problem with it. Linda always has a problem. If it’s not the schedule, it’s taking inventory or whatever it is she’s supposed to be doing. If I say something to her to then I’m a bully. So maybe you want to talk to her. If it were up to me, she’d be pounding the pavement.”

He leaned against the door frame, looking too enticing for words.

Zoe cleared her throat. She knew Linda’s real motive. Linda had a thing for Mike and rather than be upfront about it, she used her energy to give him a hard time. Very junior high school as far as Zoe was concerned, but it wasn’t her place to say anything to Mike about Linda. But her behavior was affecting her work, and that was a problem. “I’ll have a talk with her before I leave. And speaking of leaving, I’m taking Friday off. I’m driving down to see my family.”

“Cool. For how long?”

“Just the weekend. I’ll be back on Monday. Sharlene is going with me.”

Mike nodded. He pushed away from the door. “Please talk to your girl.”

“I will. I promise.”

“See you later.” He turned and walked away.

Zoe folded her hands on top of her desk. Could it be Mike? she wondered. She shook her head. Now she was starting to think like her crazy family and her even crazier best friend. But as much as she tried, it was getting harder to ignore the feelings.

Jackson returned to his two-bedroom town house following his early evening run and went straight to the living room to turn on his 52-inch flat-screen television. It was his biggest purchase since moving into his new space. How many mornings had he awakened on the used leather couch, having fallen asleep in front of the flat screen?

There was a time falling asleep on the couch would have never happened. Instead of being eager to settle down in front of the television with a stack of papers to grade, he would look forward to undressing Carla and loving every inch of her body.

He pointed the remote