Cinderella's Big Sky Groom Read Online Free PDF Page B

flute again. “Sometimes a girl has to make do with whomever shows up.”
    â€œWhomever,” he repeated. “You just proved you’re still a schoolteacher, after all.”
    She sipped. “Yes. And I’m warning you…”
    â€œDon’t tell me. At midnight, you turn into a pumpkin.”
    â€œMuch worse. At midnight, I give you a pop quiz.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œThen I make you recite your ABC s.”
    â€œAnd then?”
    She considered. “Times tables. Yes. Right up through ten times ten. And from there, I’ll want to see how you do at conjugating verbs.”
    â€œIt sounds terrifying.”
    â€œIt would be. But luckily for you, we’ll have said good-night long before then.”
    â€œYes. Luckily for me…”
    They shared a long look. A much too intimate look.
    Lynn reminded herself that they were only here to talk about Jenny.
    But then, before she could say anything to get them going on the topic of her student, their appetizers appeared.
    He asked her where she went to college.
    â€œMontana State,” she replied. “Major in education, minor in English. How about you?”
    He said he’d gone to Princeton on a scholarship. “I was miserable there. Didn’t know anybody. They’d all come from Ivy League prep schools. To them, I was just a cowboy, manure still on my boots, fresh out of high school in Billings.”
    â€œBut you stuck it out.”
    â€œDamn right. Then I went on to law school in Colorado.”
    â€œAnd got your law degree when you were—what?”
    â€œI took the bar exam when I was twenty-four.”
    â€œThat’s pretty young, isn’t it?”
    â€œI knew what I wanted. To make it and make it big. I hired on with Turow, Travis and Lindstrom, a major Denver law firm, right away.”
    Trish, who spent her lunch hours at the Hip Hop collecting every tidbit she could on Ross Garrison, had mentioned that he’d come from Denver. “And then?”
    His eyes turned cold. “I worked my way up the food chain.”
    â€œAt Turow, Travis and—?”
    â€œLindstrom. Right. I advanced there with alarming rapidity. I was twenty-eight when I made partner. Itwas an unheard-of accomplishment.” The irony in his tone matched the chill in his eyes, making it seem that the “accomplishment” he spoke of was actually nothing of the kind.
    Lynn had the strangest urge—to reach across the table. To lay her hand over his. To say something gentle and understanding, something that would bring warmth to his eyes.
    She kept her hands to herself. And he finished, “I stayed with the firm until a little over a year ago, when I decided it was time for a change.”
    Time for a change, she thought, and knew there was more to it than that. Trish had mentioned a divorce. A broken heart Trish intended to mend…
    Lynn studied him across the table, admitting to herself that, beyond this foolish and dangerous game of flirtation she was playing with him, she had started to like him, to respond to him on some deeper level—which she knew she shouldn’t allow herself to do.
    He was too rich. And too sophisticated. And even though he seemed to have zero romantic interest in Trish, her sister had set her sights on him. Trish would never consider Lynn any kind of competition. But still, there would be nothing but trouble in the family if Trish thought Lynn had dared to make a play for him.
    And yet, here she was in this fancy restaurant, drinking champagne with him. And flirting. Showing off her smart mouth, as Jewel always used to say whenever her usually self-effacing stepdaughter had the bad judgment to let that particular side of herself shine through.
    They should talk about Jenny.
    And they would, of course. Very soon. But really, there was no great hurry. She raised her glass to her lips and sipped more champagne.
    A few minutes later, the main course arrived.