Heather Graham Read Online Free PDF Page B

she felt he would press himself where he wasn’t wanted; she just wanted to keep a distance.
    “Fifteen minutes. Please!” Sam begged. “You wouldn’t want anyone to see me walking around alone—and waiting!—would you?”
    “Certainly not!” Katie responded, and then they both laughed. Katie hurried to the elevators. She noted that Sam did walk hurriedly into the newsstand and hide his face with a paper.
    She wasn’t in the least concerned about making a fifteen-minute time limit; the little traveling she had done so far had taught her to change in a matter of minutes. But once she reached her room, she hesitated uncharacteristically, wondering what to wear. She wanted to look her best.
    Why? Because she wanted to try to charm Kent Hart when she saw him again? No, he had already caught her at that act once, and he hadn’t liked it one bit. But still …
    Well, if she wasn’t going to charm him into acquiescence, she had to somehow do it with dignity. And to do that, she wanted to feel as confident as possible.
    Katie hurried to her closet, chewing nervously on the rim of her thumbnail. What had she brought? A short, white cocktail dress, but with the weather having turned so cold, she would look absurd. She hadn’t really come prepared … That wasn’t true. She had come prepared for a business trip. She was just learning that there was more than one way to go about business.
    Katie hesitated a minute longer, then spun around, grabbing her purse. She had seen it—the perfect dress for this type of occasion—at the second-floor hotel boutique. It was overpriced and beyond her budget, but she hastily assured herself that being in debt to the credit card companies was an American way of life. She was going to take more than fifteen minutes to get ready, but she promised herself that she would make it up to Sam Loper by talking about quarterbacks in general and Sam Loper in particular all through dinner.
    The elevators moved quickly; there were no other customers in the boutique. Katie swallowed back her last minute mental warnings that she was being an idiot and pulled out her charge card. She was back in her room with the dress in seven minutes.
    She took her shower in less than three, muttered out a multitude of oaths as she tripped into pantyhose, then slipped into the new dress with two minutes to spare for the hairdryer and a touch of makeup.
    She obviously wasn’t going to make it in two minutes, but she wasn’t going to be more than five minutes late. And stepping back from the floor-length mirror on the closet door, Katie tried a little dubiously to convince herself that the time and money had been spent wisely.
    The dress was a simple knit, but it was indigo-blue and floor-length. It had long sleeves and a vee neck, and it managed to be sexy while still perfect for a chilly night. With her hair dry and no longer plastered against her face, it spilled out against the deep navy with a pale gold shimmer, and her eyes reflected the deep blue of the dress. It wasn’t really dressy, just wintry, and it emphasized all the right things.
    Katie turned away from the mirror, more than a little irritated with herself. She shouldn’t have to be playing games—with Kent Hart or herself. If he’d any decency at all, Kent would be more than willing to help her. Not only that, but he should be battling for a public image. After all, how many more years could he expect to play before his knees gave way or his body became so battered that it could no longer fly across a field? He should want the exposure so that he could retire from the game and sell some macho product on television.
    And he should simply be willing to help Dante Hudson’s daughter, no matter how much Dante Hudson’s daughter hated coming to him for help.
    Katie sighed. It was her own fault. She should just forget the interview. It just seemed so incredibly stupid to give up on what could prove to be the turning point of her career. A career she