Flirting with Disaster Read Online Free PDF

figured out who I was.  
    Dylan Bishop was scared of Barbara Johnson. Ms. Johnson was a strong woman who meant business. Chances were he would pose more resistance to the orders given by Bobby-Jean. No one cared what Bobby-Jean said, she had been a victim, the smart but fat and ugly illegitimate child of an employee with a serious drinking problem.
    But that wasn't the only motivation for choosing the diner.  
    The real reason I hadn't directly invited Ryder into my home was that I was a coward. What was I afraid of exactly? I wasn't sure. If I applied logic, two things could happen. Either Ryder could continue to ignore me as he had when we were teenagers, or he could hit on me because in this town the pickings were slim and I would become another notch on his bedpost. One quick fuck to be dumped the next day. In both cases, it would hurt.
    My gloomy train of thought was derailed by Joanne.  
    "Morning, the usual?" I looked up to her and frowned. She rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, white egg omelette and chocolate shake?"  
    I laughed. "I'm impressed you remember my order." She shrugged away the compliment on her memory. "Yes, for the eggs, not for the shake." I wrinkled my nose while saying the last word. "I'll have a Diet Coke instead, please."
    She smiled at me and bent over to say with a low, conspiratorial tone, "Can't say I blame you. It used to be delish' but now we're using a cheap syrup..." Standing straight again, she winked at me and continued with a louder voice, "Coming right up."
    Joanne marched to the kitchen, hollered my order and returned to clean a booth. She stopped to flirt shamelessly with a boy who couldn't be a day over twenty. He was kinda cute, but come on, she was my age. She was robbing the cradle. The young man beamed. Joanne whispered something in his ear and his face lit up. I scolded myself. Joanne had made his day, and for all I knew, she was being nice. While she was doing something to boost his confidence, I was being a judgmental bigot.  
    I needed to loosen up.
    Right, as if I knew how to do that!  
    Specially with Ryder walking in. The various reactions to his presence confirmed another thing hadn't changed. He was still local royalty. People waved or called out his name and he waved and answered back. Joanne stood a bit straighter. She pulled her shoulders back pushing her chest outward. A regular bird of paradise mating dance!  
    Ryder barely acknowledged her. He nodded and her smile died on her lips. She had it bad. His gaze finally reached my booth and he nodded again before making his way to me. Before I had a chance to stand and offer my hand to shake, he was sitting across the table from me.
    "I'm Ryder," he said, "Ryder Bishop."
    My turn to nod. I wanted to say something but couldn't figure out what. My mind which usually looked like the blackboard of a mad professor was suddenly blank. I took a big breath hoping it would bring oxygen back to my brain. It did.
    "Thank you for making yourself available on such short notice."  
    The corner of his lips twitched. The shadow of a smile he didn't want to give me. "No problem."  
    Looking away from me he waved at Joanne who almost magically transported herself from the other side of the room to our table.
    "Coffee, black."  
    He gratified her with a dazzling smile; the poor girl was almost swooning as she walked away.
    Looking serious again, he said, "So what is it you need? My old man wasn't very clear on why you wanted a handyman."
    "I don't know yet how long I'm going to be here but I want to fix up some stuff." I paused trying to figure out what I should start with, well, after clearing the place of its battered furniture.
    Ryder raised an eyebrow and said, "You don't like the color of your rental?" His tone left no doubt how low his opinion of me was. As far as he was concerned, I was some sort of spoiled brat.  
    My answer came out before I thought it through, "I happen to own a place in this town."   As soon as I said