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

tricks ordinary people wouldn’t know.”
    “Oh, yes.” Angie was almost overcome with gratitude. “I did. They were always looking over my shoulder and trying to show me better ways to do things on the computer.”
    That was more like it. Angie cast a beaming smile at Garner. Now she had a ready explanation if Garner should catch her doing something esoteric with his computer.
    Garner seemed to freeze. Then he quickly dropped his gaze to the résumé on his desk before he once more studied her from the top of her shining, pale-blond head to the tips of her equally shining brown pumps.
    “Is something wrong?” She watched him with outward concern while she berated herself for that smile. Trust something so silly to give her away.
    “Wrong?” Garner coughed. “Not at all. That is … No, nothing’s wrong. How many years’ experience did you say you have?”
    Angie paled. Just as she’d feared, he had recognized her. She had added a year to her work history so she could say she’d been a secretary for five years, assuming she had graduated from a college secretarial course at the age of twenty-two. She had calculated everything very carefully. What had tipped him off to that extra year?
    “Five years.” She drew herself up and tried for a hint of frost. “Didn’t I remember to state that clearly?”
    After all the calculation she had done, she knew she had. Part of the problem centered around the fact that she began college at the age of sixteen, which she knew was unusual. She had planned her résumé to project a woman who was thoroughly normal, but highly skilled.
    “Here it is. Sorry.” Garner looked at her with that rising-sun smile. “You have such a youthful air I thought you were much too young to have this much experience. Although, I’m sure you’re very qualified. That is—” He stopped and stared at her.
    Angie sucked in her breath. She’d lost the job, and all because he had recognized her. Her heart sank to her feet. Her first interview and she had already failed to impress her prospective employer because she’d been dumb enough to appear in a public place wearing shorts and no makeup.
    The secretarial manuals were right. A professional secretary could never let down her guard.
    “I
am
qualified, Mr. Holt.” She rose with an attempt at dignity. “I’d have worn a gray wig and orthopedic shoes if I’d realized you wanted someone over sixty for the job.”
    Garner shot to his feet. He reached toward her and knocked a stack of books off his desk. “Wait. Where are you going? We haven’t even discussed salary yet.”
    “Yee-ow!” Two heavy tomes landed on her right foot.
    Off-balance already because of her high-heeled pumps, she jumped back and staggered into the stack of books Garner had transferred off her chair. The stack toppled onto her left foot. She tumbled backwards, amid the books and folders, and a cloud of dust rose about her. Her glasses flew off her face and skidded across the room.
    “Oh, Lord.” Garner rushed around to help her up. “Are you hurt?”
    Angie propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the papers scattered around her. “I’m okay, but your folders aren’t.” She sneezed violently and shoved down her skirt, which had hiked up to expose a good portion of her thigh and her lacy slip.
    Two of the file folders had spilled their contents on the floor around her. Angie sneezed again and reached for one.
    “I’ll take care of it,” Garner said. “Here. Let me help you up.”
    Her head spun when he lifted her to her feet in one smooth motion. She swayed, conscious of her foot and ankle.
    “Easy,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
    He did, Angie realized wildly. She rested in his arms. It was a moment frozen in time, something she’d never experienced before. In her usual textbook manner, Angie tried to sort out, analyze, and explain the feelings rioting through her.
    She had been kissed before, on rare occasions, and had experienced her share of