A Great Kisser Read Online Free PDF Page A

In such a small town, everyone probably knew more than she did.
    But she also knew small towns were a close-knit society, and close-knit societies might gossip to each other about each other, but they held on to their secrets where outsiders were concerned. And despite her connection to the mayor’s wife, given their estrangement, she harbored no illusions as to which category she’d fit into. Which was going to make poking around in local affairs that much more challenging.
    At least Rugged Outdoors Guy was being hospitable. It was a start. One she should be more grateful for. Not to mention possibly use to her advantage. She wished she knew more about the local politics and where he fit into the hierarchy of it all. But, at the moment, he was the only opening she had, and she should be using it. The rocky plane ride had really thrown her off her game. She needed to get her head in gear right now, not three hours from now after a hot shower and a good meal. Campaigns were lost with that kind of strategy. And she was kidding herself if she didn’t think what she was about to mount was exactly that.
    A campaign. A campaign designed to free her surprisingly deluded mother by exposing the real Arlen Thompson. And if the rest of the town learned something new about their community leader, well, she had no problem with that, either.
    So she went with honesty. Which she still believed was the best policy, even if that concept was oftentimes a foreign one in her day-to-day world. Her former day-to-day world. “Not to get personal, and I’m not dragging you into it, I swear, but this is kind of a tough trip for me. I’ve put it off too long and that has only made things worse. But now I’m here, and…” She glanced out at the pounding rain, then down at her sodden self, then back at him, and smiled, this time quite naturally. “So far, nothing is really going as I thought it would.”
    His smile threatened to surface again, and she found herself wishing it would. For the campaign, of course. The better connection you made with the locals, the better your chances were when it came time for them to decide who to put their faith in. And the incumbents almost always had the edge.
    “Colorado is a pretty optimistic place,” he said. “It’s hard to be jaded or cynical when you look out at a view like the one we have here. Even with the rain, it’s awe inspiring.”
    Why his comment surprised her, she couldn’t have said. Most people lived where they did for a reason. But she hadn’t pegged him as the philosophic type. “How long have you lived here?”
    “Every day of my life.”
    “Impressive,” she said. “That you don’t take it for granted, I mean.”
    “You can’t live here, and look at that, and not be aware of how insignificant your place is in the big picture of things. It keeps the little things in perspective. And yet, at the same time, you can’t live here and not know, with absolute certainty, that if such majestic things as those mountains can exist, surely anything a mere human wants to accomplish can be done with a little grit and perseverance.”
    He pushed away from the wall and grabbed the handle of her suitcase, which she hadn’t noticed he’d retrieved for her. In fact, at the moment, all she was noticing was him.
    His lips curved more fully under her continued regard, deepening the grooves on either side of his mouth, and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. “You don’t strike me as someone who gives up all that easily.”
    “No,” she said, a little too taken with his easy charm and surprising depth. “No, I don’t.”
    “Why don’t we get on the road, so you can tackle what comes next?”
    “Yes,” she murmured, falling into step beside him, feeling, suddenly, like she might have to scramble to catch up, in more ways than one. “Why don’t we.”

Chapter 3

    S he was nothing like he’d expected.
    Not that he’d had any expectations, or given it any thought, really. But