“Dad,” he repeated, staring at me blankly. Then he blinked and turned his head, grinning as he looked down the hallway. “Yeah, my dad. Pastor Keenan is my dad, and your meeting is with him.”

Okay.“Is he here?” I asked.

He nodded and took a step toward me and held out his hand. “I’m Linc Keenan. It’s nice to meet you, Blythe.”

I slipped my hand into his for a polite handshake. “Thanks,” I replied.

When he let my hand go, he nodded toward the hallway. “This way.”

Good. That had been awkward, but I liked Linc’s smile. He seemed sincere and kind. I had never actually liked pastors’ kids before. I had met many of them when they’d come to visit the church with their parents. They’d always either treated me badly, or given me the creeps. If it hadn’t been one of their daughters making fun of me, it had been one of their sons looking at me funny. One had even gone as far as touching me and covering my mouth so that I hadn’t been able to scream. He had said he knew I was a dirty slut because he’d heard the gossip. He just hadn’t been told how hot I was, and he’d said he wanted a taste of my pussy. I had started crying as he shoved his hand down my pants. Luckily, Pastor Williams had shown up and ordered him to leave. Then he sent me to my room for the rest of the weekend.

It was never discussed. No one ever asked me about it or checked on me. I was just told to stay in my room. I had been terrified and humiliated.

Needless to say, my experiences with pastors’ kids hadn’t been pleasant. I just really wanted this job to work out.

Linc led me to the room. “Let me go in and speak to my dad and tell him you’re here. Have a seat and make yourself comfortable. I won’t be but a minute.”

I nodded and sank down to wait on the soft tan leather sofa. The decor in the room was also

bright and laid-back. A palm tree was in the corner, and bamboo plants adorned the end tables and front desk. The smell of coconut lingered in there as well. I noticed several candles that were in rustic-looking metal tins sitting around. They obviously used them often.

The door to the pastor’s office opened, and an older version of Linc stepped out of the room.

His eyes locked on mine. A smile lit up his face as he smiled at me. I stood up quickly and nervously fidgeted with my backpack.

“I was at your dedication nineteen years ago, but seeing you standing there all grown-up, it’s hard to believe that’s you.”

This man had been at my baby dedication? Pastor Williams hadn’t told me that.

“You sure have turned into a lovely young woman. But then Malcolm had said you had grown into a beautiful intelligent woman. I just wasn’t prepared to see it.”

Malcolm was Pastor Williams’s first name. I knew that, but I had never called him by it.

“Thank you,” I replied, feeling the need to say something but not sure what I was supposed to say to this man.

He stepped back and waved for me to come into his office. “I see you’ve met Lincoln. He will be meeting with us. We have been without a secretary in the office for two weeks now, and Lincoln has been filling in, but I can assure you that we are all ready for him to go back to his other job. He’s not very good at this one.” There was a teasing tone in Pastor Keenan’s tone.

I smiled and glanced over at Linc, who was leaning against a bookshelf, his arms crossed over his chest and a pleased smile on his face. He was ready to hand over the secretary position to me. I understood his excitement about me being there now.

“I would have started last week had I known you needed me. Pastor Williams said that I wasn’t supposed to come in until today,” I explained, feeling guilty for not coming in sooner.

“Malcolm wanted to make sure you had time to get settled and ready for your courses before you started work. I agreed with him. Besides, I think my son actually got better over the last week.”

I glanced at Linc again. His grin was still in place, but he rolled his eyes as if he was amused with his dad.

“Okay, well, thank you. It didn’t take me too long to get settled in though,” I said, feeling the need to say something. I wasn’t good with small talk.

“Good. I’m glad you’re ready to dive in. Please, have a seat. Can Linc get you a water?”

I shook my head and sat down in the black leather high-backed chair that sat across from the pastor’s desk. But instead of going to sit behind his desk, Pastor Keenan sat down in the chair beside me. Then he leaned back and smiled as he studied me.

“You will definitely be well received here. I imagine my daughter will be up here soon enough when she hears about you.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet his daughter.

KRIT

I had been stopped outside Blythe’s apartment staring at her door for at least five full minutes.

Since the night of the party, I had avoided her. Not sure why, because it wasn’t like she was one of those females I had to avoid. She never knocked on my door or made any attempt at contact at all.

Secretly, I had been hoping she’d show up at my door all on her own if just to thank me for the iPod and earbuds I’d left her. Not that she had needed them this week. I had moved all

parties to Matty’s place. Blythe, however, never showed up. Not even in passing. So maybe I hadn’t been avoiding her. Maybe she had been avoiding me.

And why the fuck did I give a shit?

“I’m not there.” Blythe’s voice filled the hallway, and I jerked my gaze from her door to find her standing at the top of the stairs.

Holy hell, she had on tight jeans with a pair of fucking pink heels. I let the image of her legs showcased in the jeans burn a spot in my memory as I trailed my gaze up them slowly. The clingy material of her shirt was cut in a modest enough style, but damn, it hinted at the body underneath.

“I haven’t seen you all week.” Her voice sounded nervous. “I wanted to thank you for the iPod. You didn’t have to do that.”

I mentally slapped myself and focused on her face and the words coming out of her mouth.

She wasn’t like normal girls. She was shy and unsure of herself. I had to remember that or I’d scare her away. Not that I could do anything with her. She would be too fragile for me.

“Uh, yeah, I did. Now I won’t feel like an ass when we have a party,” I replied with a smirk.

She grinned and reached up to tuck a strand of her long silky dark brown hair behind her ear. That hair was fascinating. As if she needed one more attractive feature on her alreadyperfect body. “I appreciate it. I really do. I started my classes today, so studying will soon be of extreme importance.”

She moved toward her door and unlocked it before glancing back at me. I wasn’t ready to let her disappear inside just yet. She was more comfortable talking to me today. I was suddenly curious. I wanted to hear more about her.

“Would you like some coffee?” she asked as she opened the door.

“Yeah, I’d love some,” I replied, thankful for a reason not to leave.

She smiled at me, and I swear to God, the entire world around her lit up. How the fuck was this girl alone? Where was the man hovering over her and protecting her from every bad thing that came near her? She was too fucking unreal. Did her family think it was smart to just send her off like this? Were they idiots?

She slipped the backpack off her shoulder and dropped it onto her sofa. In a week she had made the place feel warm and inviting. There wasn’t a lot of fussy shit around, and there were no pictures of her with friends or family, which was odd. Wasn’t that, like, a girl thing?

“How did your classes go?” I asked, knowing if I didn’t control the conversation, we would stand there in silence. Another thing I wasn’t used to with girls. Normally, they talked my fucking ear off.

She filled the coffeepot with water then glanced up at me. “Good, but I wasn’t worried about these two courses. Wednesday, I have to face Fundamentals of Public Speaking, and, well . .