Explosion of Love (The Armstrongs Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

nice fresh water in one big jump. The cool water helped ease the heat she was experiencing, but wasn’t cold enough to make her shiver.
    “The platform?” he inquired as they both surfaced.
    “Who’s first?” Samantha didn’t wait for his answer, but struck out with long, sure strokes of her arms and kicks of her feet. A platform rose out of the lake a few hundred yards away. It provided a docking station for boats, but the Armstrong and Paxton kids had used it as a ground zero and sunbathing deck since they’d first come to the lake.
    Grant beat her to the platform, and after levering his body out of the water, he reached down a hand and helped her up on the platform.
    She tried to pretend nothing was different and stretched out on her stomach on the sun-warmed wooden deck. The warmth of the sun felt amazing on her back, and she sighed and let her eyes close.
    He followed suit, and after several minutes of companionable silence, he asked the question she’d dreaded since she’d arrived at the airport: “So what happened with Craig this time?”
    Samantha answered him without ever lifting her head up. “That cheating bastard ruined my career.”
    “How’s that?” Grant inquired, keeping his voice calm and his body still on the platform, which she was thankful for. It was embarrassing enough to tell him her big screw-up; she didn’t want to look into his eyes while doing so.
    “Remember I told you Silueta was looking for the Face of the Year and I wanted that contract? Bad.”
    “Sure, Sammy, you told me that this is one of the biggest and most important contracts in the fashion industry.”
    She marveled at how well he’d listened; he had nothing to do with fashion and still he’d remembered every word.
    “Craig was completely against it.”
    “Why?” Grant asked, an edge finding its way into his voice.
    “He didn’t think I was good enough, and he didn’t think I could handle the pressure.”
    “So you didn’t go for it?”
    “Off course I did!” She felt her temper rising, but when she looked at him, the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. Telling Samantha Armstrong she couldn’t do something was like waving a red flag in front of a raging bull.
    Her brothers had played to that flaw in her character whenever they wanted her to do something and she had balked at it. She had hated being played by them, but then she’d hated being told what she couldn’t do even worse. I have to get a grip on my temper or this will end badly one day.
    “So, against Craig’s advice you applied for the position?”
    “I did. I was already modeling for them, and thought that would give me an advantage. My agent made the appointments and I passed the first two castings. They promised to call me for the final casting, but didn’t.”
    “So, what exactly happened that set you off?”
    She sighed, blood rushing to her cheeks at the memory of Craig’s betrayal. “I went to the bathroom as the afternoon wore away, and I asked Craig to answer the phone if it rang. Their marketing director had promised me they would make a decision before the end of the day. I thought I had the job in the bag.”
    “So, they never called?” Grant asked, confused.
    Samantha pushed herself to a sitting position. “No, they called. Craig told me they called and informed him they had decided to postpone their decision for a month or two.”
    Grant took her hand into his and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “I’m not sure I can follow – how did he ruin your career with this? They’ll come around and call you when they’re ready.”
    “No!” She jumped up and paced the platform, before she continued, “He told them I wasn’t interested any longer and they needed to find someone else. Imagine my surprise a few weeks later when I attended a big Silueta event and found out that Cindy was the new Face of the Year. They replaced me as their model and I hadn’t even been told that.”
    Grant remained silent, waiting out