A Great Kisser Read Online Free PDF

he must have formed some opinion, because he’d been surprised when she’d stepped out of the commuter and run across the tarmac.
    Given Ruby Jean’s description of the workaholic, no-nonsense, no-life, thirty-something, he guessed he’d pictured someone tall, thin, tight-faced, and humorless.
    Lauren Matthews wasn’t close to matching any of those descriptions. She was short, curvy in all the right places, and her self-deprecating humor had been a welcome surprise. Caught in a downpour, she’d more or less just shrugged it off and dealt with the less-than-flattering consequences. It was probably the freckles that had done him the rest of the way in. The rain had streaked off whatever makeup she’d had on, revealing a surprising scatter of them across her nose and cheeks. Sun kisses, Ruby Jean had called them when she was little. It had been a long time since he’d thought of that. It had made him smile then, and made him want to smile now.
    They’d been on the road for a little over an hour now, but the combination of the noise the rain was making, pounding on the roof of Teddy’s truck, the repetitive squeak of the windshield wipers, and the loud rumble of the engine had kept conversation to a minimum. He should have been relieved. Ruby Jean was the chatty sibling. He enjoyed his solitude and the peace and quiet that allowed him to do, think, or just be, without distraction. It’s why he loved to fly.
    But he found himself more curious about his passenger than he’d expected to be. The few times he’d stolen a glance in her direction, or commented on this mountain name or that mountain pass, she’d smiled and nodded, but otherwise she seemed mostly lost in her own thoughts. He remembered what Ruby Jean had said, about the estrangement between mother and daughter. Lauren had been a little prickly when he’d mentioned her mom by name. He imagined her comments about this trip not being a necessarily fun one for her were probably tied to that. He’d also meant what he said about not getting involved, but with nothing better to do than think at the moment, he found himself spending most of the drive thus far thinking about her.
    RJ had said their problems started when Charlene had eloped with Arlen. His guess was the daughter didn’t approve. Either of the elopement, or of Arlen, he wasn’t sure. Jake didn’t have an opinion on whirlwind romances, except to know he didn’t have them, and therefore really didn’t understand why any two people would be in such a rush to get to the altar. If it was right, waiting a few months, or years, certainly wasn’t going to change that. And the more a person knew, the better prepared they’d be to make such a monumental decision. At least that’s what made sense to him. But he didn’t begrudge anyone else rushing. As long as they weren’t rushing him.
    However, if her problem was with Arlen personally, well…Jake couldn’t fault her on that. Not that she’d asked, or that he’d offer up the opinion. He’d keep his word to Ruby Jean. Besides, he wanted no part of whatever drama was playing out with Cedar Springs’ First Couple. Just because Arlen Thompson had always struck him as the kind of man who held only his own interests as sacred, and would sell his grandmother’s pearls if he thought it would help him advance his cause—and anyone was a fool if they thought his cause had anything to do with putting others’ needs before his own—didn’t mean he couldn’t be a good partner or spouse. Jake had a really hard time imagining it, that’s all. Not that he cared enough to share that opinion with anyone. He just steered clear and went about taking care of his own business. In fact, Cedar Springs would probably be a lot better off if more folks did the same.
    Jake found his gaze sliding over to Lauren. Again. She was staring out the side window, thoughts far away from her immediate company if her pensive expression was anything to judge by. He wondered what