A Man to Believe In Read Online Free PDF

excuses, told her she had no choice. Besides, she was starving, and if they didn’t get going right away, she’d miss her lunch hour entirely.
    “Oh, all right,” she said. “Let’s get some lunch.”
    “Great.” He took her hand again and made for the door before she had a chance to reconsider.
    “But I pick the restaurant,” she informed him as they left the library. “And if you try anything funny, I’ll flatten you faster than Godzilla flattened Tokyo. You got that?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I give you my word I’ll be on my best behavior.”
    “I have an awful feeling I’ve already seen your best behavior,” she muttered as they headed for the parking lot. “We’d better take your car. Mine’s been temperamental lately.”
    With military crispness Jake saluted. “You’re the boss. My truck’s right here.” He pointed to a black pickup truck.
    At least she thought it was black. The dirt made it hard to know for sure. Dried mud had splashed up from the oversize tires, covering the hood, the doors, and most of the windows. Cori shuddered. Her convertible was old, the paint long past its prime, but she’d always kept it meticulously clean. How could anyone let a vehicle, even a truck, get so filthy?
    Jake opened the door for her and she climbed in, careful to avoid the mud on the sill plate. When he started up the engine and pulled out of the parking space, she peered out of a clean spot on the windshield.
    “Sorry about the truck,” he said when he caught her doubtful expression. “I use it for work.”
    “What do you do for a living? Supply the dirt for mud wrestlers?”
    Jake threw back his head and laughed, apparently not the least bit insulted by her remark.
    Cori drummed her fingers on the table as she pretended to look over the menu printed on the place mat in front of her. The red and white checkered tablecloth muted the sound of her short nails as they connected with the hard surface, but her agitated mood rang through loud and clear.
    “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
    Jake’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Is it a hanging offense?”
    His lighthearted response instantly disarmed her anger. She’d chosen Butch’s Barbecue Pit because she was a regular there—as if that fact would give her some sort of home-team advantage—but her strategy had been knocked out of the ball park the moment they walked in the door. Three of the five waitresses had greeted the opposing team by name.
    “No, it’s not any kind of offense,” she conceded, feeling foolish for thinking she needed a game plan in the first place. It was only lunch, for heaven’s sake. “I just thought I’d introduce you to the best barbecue in town, but it looks as though you already know about the place.”
    “I sure do,” he admitted as a petite woman with curly, white hair set two glasses and a pitcher of iced tea down on the table. “My family’s been coming here for years. Isn’t that right, Harriet?”
    Cori watched in silence as her favorite waitress slipped one thin arm around Jake’s shoulders and gave him a familiar hug.
    “Of course, darlin’.” With an agreeable smile Harriet released Jake and fished into her apron pocket for her order pad and pencil. “Your baby sister was in here just yesterday. She ordered a deluxe ham sandwich on a French roll—”
    “With french fries and baked beans, just as she always does,” Jake chimed in, laughing along with Harriet.
    A pang of jealousy sliced through Cori at Jake’s mention of his family. Quietly, she listened as Harriet quizzed Jake about his mother and sisters. As he spoke, something in his voice caught her attention. The soft, loving quality there told her he cared for them a great deal. That was nice. The man was aggressive, pushy even, but he appreciated his family.
    “What’ll you have, Cori honey?”
    Harriet’s question interrupted Cori’s thoughts just as her stomach growled, a sharp reminder that she’d skipped