Angel in Disguise Read Online Free PDF

nerve-wracking sitting here in the rental new-model pickup Meggy had paid for so he wouldn’t look like a pauper on national TV.
    A pauper. He could buy a fleet of new pickups if he wanted to. It was his business what he drove, and he liked driving Old Red, no matter how much money he had. Things like loyalty were important, and he’d had Old Red since high school.
    The Dream Date staffer who’d stopped him a block from Sunny’s place handed Pete a two-way radio. Meggy’s voice came through. “Pete, how are you doing?”
    “How do you think? Let’s get this over with.”
    “Uh, Pete, the audience always loves it when the guy brings the girl a flower. Teresa’s got one there for you.”
    The staffer handed Pete a red rose.
    “What next, Meggy? A stuffed animal?”
    “No, we didn’t think Coach Keegan seemed like the stuffed animal type. But it would be nice if you’d give her a hug.”
    “It would be nice if you’d ease up.”
    “Sorry, Pete, the staff and I—” she paused, letting it sink in that others were listening “—don’t mean to be pushy. We’re here to make your date successful.”
    For the benefit of those others, he gushed. “You’ve done a super job, Meggy. I mean it. If Isounded…unappreciative, it’s because all this is pretty strange to me.”
    “We understand. No problem. When you’re ready, drive on down to the house. Try not to look at the cameras.”
    Nervous as a kid up to bat at his first big game, Pete approached Sunny’s condo, where a TV van and dozens, maybe hundreds, of teenagers surrounded the place.
    Lord, if you’re out there and listening, get me through this. I’d take it as a personal favor if You’d see to it that my hip doesn’t act up and I don’t make a fool of myself.
    When he stepped out of the pickup, his eyes swept the scene to get his bearings. Naturally he looked right into a camera. Sorry, Meggy.
    Fixing his eyes on Sunny’s door, he made his way there. Concentrating as hard as he was, he forgot the rose clutched in his hand until he knocked on the door, and the thing jiggled in his grip. When the door swung open, his hand held the rose in midair, raised in a salute. He felt like a fool.
    But Sunny’s smile was so beautiful and warm, it didn’t seem to matter. Those soft butternut eyes affected him the same way they had on the show. He felt the same zing in his gut. The same shortness of breath.
    She glanced at the rose in his hand, and he remembered his manners, offering it to her.
    “Thank you,” she said sweetly, touching her nose to the flower, sniffing its fragrance. “What a nice thing to do.”
    He thought about giving Meggy the credit, butnoticed from the corner of his eye that the camera was recording the whole thing. This was as bad as being on the show.
    What else had Meggy said he should do? Oh, yeah, the hug. Well, he wasn’t giving hugs because his sister said to; however, Sunny looked as if she could use one. Unless he’d lost the ability to read a woman’s eyes, she was plenty shaken by this.
    As she stepped aside and motioned for him to come in, Pete slid his arm around her waist tentatively. He didn’t want her to get the idea that he was a lech or anything, but a friendly “we’re in this thing together” kind of hug should be okay.
    As if the hug were her own idea, Sunny snuggled into it, and Pete felt his heartbeat pick up. Except for Meggy and his mom, it had been a long time since he’d been this close to a woman. It was ridiculous how much he liked it.
    She lifted her face and there wasn’t a thing he could do but give her a kiss—just a friendly “glad to see you” kiss. That’s what he intended. Who knew it would ignite into a genuine, man-to-woman, take-his-breath-away kiss? Panic ripped through his brain before instinct took over, and he deepened the kiss.
    “Get a bucket of water,” someone said, “or hose ’em down.”
    The rude interruption pulled them apart. Pete’s heart pounded as if he’d