“But what if they found it and they don’t answer? What if it’s sitting under my seat in the theater? I need to go make sure before the next movie starts. God, they probably swept it out. It’s probably in some giant trash can as we speak, beeping away and letting me know I have a message.”
“Calm down, sweets.” Jenna offered an easy smile and gave her a little shake about the shoulders. “Morgan’s right. Try and call it first. If no one answers, then we’ll go back to the theater. We’ll find it. Don’t worry.”
Hah. Right. Easy for her to say, it wasn’t her phone. It wasn’t her boss she had to deal with calling and texting all through the weekend with the most inane questions and statements ever. Mia swore the man did it just to keep her on her toes.
And to bug the ever loving crap out of her.
“Here.” Morgan handed over her precious iPhone. “Call yourself. See who answers.”
Mia took the phone and punched in her number. She waited, listening to it ring and ring as her friends stared at her expectantly. One more ring and it would go to voicemail. Proving no one had it, which of course, Mia always believed. It was lying under the chair she sat in at the theater. It had to be…
“Hello?”
Mia froze at the sound of the deliciously low, masculine voice that answered her phone, her skin prickling with awareness. She forcibly ignored her odd reaction. “Who is this?”
“Who are you?” he returned, his voice laced with lazy amusement.
“I am the owner of the very phone you’re talking on.” She sounded like a snot, but she didn’t care. How dare this thief answer her phone and then question who she might be?
“And how do I know you’re the owner?”
“Well, first of all, for you to make a statement like that proves the phone doesn’t belong to you. And second, I lost it at Edward’s Movie Theater.” She looked up and caught her friends watching her curiously.
“I found it under a seat at Edward’s. I was just about to turn it in at the ticket counter.”
“I appreciate that, but it’s not necessary. I’m not too far from the theater. Would you meet me out front so I can get my phone back? I really need it.” Relief flooded her. Thank goodness someone found it. At least she didn’t have to go back inside and search for the thing.
“Sure, no problem. What do you look like?”
Mia paused, suddenly unsure. What should she say? The more she thought about it, the more she realized he had a really sexy voice. Of course, if he was in the same theater as her watching the sappy movie Fated Love then he most likely was with a date or girlfriend or whatever.
“I’m wearing a pink tank top and jeans.” She glanced down at herself. “Dark blonde hair in a ponytail.”
“I’ll watch for you.”
“Wait, what do you look like—” She started to say, but he had already hung up.
“You found it,” Jenna said with a smile as Mia handed Morgan back her phone.
“I think you should’ve kept it permanently lost. At least over the weekend,” Morgan said as she shoved her phone back in her tiny purse.
Mia shot her a withering glance. “Like that would ever fly. Larry would probably fire me.”
“Well, good. He can’t keep an assistant. He never has been able to do it for longer than six months and no one could figure out why. Now I realize why.” Morgan shook her head. “He treats you like his slave. Everyone deserves time off. He gives you none.”
“I like my job.” She did. Really, she did. But she had to agree with Morgan that it got tiring, always being at the beck and call of someone else. She’d even conjured up a fake boyfriend to use as an excuse so Larry would call her less.
Her fake boyfriend excuse really wasn’t working though. Larry still called her all the time. And sometimes he asked her rather…personal questions. Oh yes, and sent her rather…lascivious looks too. Hence the big, burly, fake boyfriend, a minor detail she’d never shared with her friends. It was too embarrassing.
“Listen, I need to go meet this guy and get my phone back. He’s waiting for me out in front of the theater,” Mia said as she waved toward the restaurant entrance.
The hostess called out Jenna’s name, letting them know their table was ready. “We’ll go with you,” Jenna said, ignoring the hostess.
“No, no, no.” Mia shook her head. “You two go sit at the table, and I’ll be right back. It won’t take but a minute. Order me a drink, would you?”
Morgan frowned. “You shouldn’t meet this guy alone. What if he’s a serial killer?”
“Please.” Mia sighed. “It’s packed outside. It’s packed in here. It’s Friday night, everyone’s out. If he even touches me I’ll scream bloody murder.”