Bride by the Book (Crimson Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Who was your aunt?”
    “She was actually my father’s aunt. Her name was Loretha Culp.”
    “Of course. Miss Culp was a friend of my grandfather’s.” Garner sounded surprised. “My sister and I were sorry to hear of her passing.”
    Angie inclined her head. “Thank you. She used to send me dolls every Christmas during my childhood.”
    Now why had she told him that? Angie asked herself. It was that voice of his, slow and hypnotic. If she didn’t watch out, he’d soon hypnotize her into telling him a lot of other things he didn’t need to know.
    “So tell me about your previous job.” Garner stared down at her résumé in a baffled way. “What kind of work did you do?”
    “I did … the usual secretarial work,” Angie said, thrown off balance. “The filing was much like what you need done—lots of books and folders that needed organizing. Organizing files is my specialty.”
    It wasn’t exactly a lie. Angie crossed her fingers in her lap and hid them with her other hand.
    “Is that right?” Garner sounded as if he couldn’t believe his ears. “What business was the company in?”
    Angie had prepared herself thoroughly for this question. “The only companies I’ve ever worked for have been software companies.” She managed a deprecating shrug. “A lot of the industry in Palo Alto revolves around computer technology.”
    “‘Van Holden Software,’” Garner read aloud thoughtfully. “What programs do they put out?”
    “Oh.” Angie thought fast. “Mr. Van Holden used to be the chief systems programmer with BrownWare, but he left them several months ago. He’s working on an—er—advanced grammar checking program.”
    “BrownWare? Isn’t that the big database company?”
    Angie wished she’d never mentioned BrownWare, but it was too late to take it back. “Yes, it is. Mr. Van Holden got fed up with databases and decided to do something about grammar. He said it’s terrible the way people have let their grammar skills deteriorate.”
    She winced inwardly. Peter Van Holden had never typed a sentence correctly in his entire life. He hadn’t needed to. But she’d caught a glimpse of a box on Garner’s shelf that contained a grammar-checking program. She didn’t dare tell him Van Holden Software’s true goal in the business world, which was to claim half the assets of BrownWare and half-interest in the copyright to BrownWare’s major programs.
    Garner stared at her a moment, then looked back at her résumé. Angie had spent many loving hours on that résumé. It was professionally printed on heavy bond paper, and she hoped just the look of it would convince a prospective employer of the quality of her secretarial skills. So far, she couldn’t decipher the expression on Garner’s face.
    “Before Van Holden Software, you were with Glen Goodwin Enterprises. I see Goodwin is now a full-time professor at California Institute of Technology. What sort of work did you do for him?”
    Angie caught her breath. Why on earth had she mentioned Cal Tech?
    Because she had no other job references she could trust to say what she instructed them to say, that was why, and she had to list some phone numbers. Glen couldn’t give her a reference unless her prospective employers could get hold of him.
    “Mr. Goodwin was a graduate student—um—researching electronic networking at the time.” Angie could have groaned aloud at this lame explanation and hoped Garner was as ignorant as most people of the more arcane elements of computer technology. “I kept him organized, typed his notes—um—filed his correspondences … that sort of thing.”
    She hadn’t realized how hard it was to be creative with her job experience in spite of having practiced her spiel. She hadn’t expected Garner’s interest, or that she’d be rattled enough to mention BrownWare. Angie could have kicked herself.
    “Both these guys are known computer wizards,” Garner said. “I suppose you picked up all sorts of computer