Her Prince Charming: An Inspirational Romance Read Online Free PDF

her jaw still half dropped.
    “Not THE James Drake?” she asked, breathlessly. I braced for the embarrassment to come. As I expected, she moved in, sidling closer so she could lay an overly familiar hand on the lapel of James’s suit. “The owner of all of this? Girls, you know who James Drake is!”
    Before she could get any closer, James eased back, stepping slightly behind me while keeping his arm firmly around my shoulders. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Cunningham,” James said, polite in the face of her attempted groping.
    Not one to give up easily, my mother giggled, a young, high-pitched sound I’d always disliked. It usually meant she was about to do something embarrassing.
    “Oh, I’m not Mrs. Cunningham. That was the girls' father’s name. I’ve moved on since then. I’m Mrs. Lewis, but you can call me Susan.”
    Unable to help myself, I went to my toes and whispered in James’s ear, “The Mrs. Lewis is from husband number four.”
    “Are you going to introduce me to your sisters?” he whispered back, his breath tickling my ear.
    I caught Christie scowling at me. She was justified. Whispering in front of all of them was kind of rude, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel badly about it.
    “Only if you promise not to sleep with any of them,” I said into the side of his neck, my voice so low I knew he could barely hear. In response, I got another squeeze of his arm.
    “This is Cathie, Christie, and Christie’s fiancé, Tim,” I said, gesturing to each of them in turn.
    “Nice to meet you,” James said, then turned to the restaurant. “Do we have a reservation? I know it’s my fault we’re late, and I’d hate for everyone to go hungry.”
    My mother finally remembered why we were there and led us to the hostess stand. A moment later, we were on our way to our table, a large circular booth surrounded by light drapes suspended from the ceiling.
    The design of the restaurant was intimate and cozy. Wonderful for a date, not so fabulous for a family dinner.
    As we arranged ourselves in the booth, Cathie gave me a hip bump designed to send me reeling into Tim, giving her room to sit beside James.
    James refused to release his hold on my arm, and instead of letting me fall, he used my sideways momentum to slide me into the booth, with him beside me. Smooth. And sweet. Unfortunately, I ended up with Tim on my other side.
    Unable to finagle a seat next to James, who’d taken the end of the booth, Cathie slid in on the other end and glared at me.
    “So, what are you doing with Sara?” she asked, venom dripping from her words. “You’re not actually her date, are you? She works for you or something, right?”
    “I work at Franklin and Scott, Cathie,” I said, cutting in. “I’ve been there since I graduated from college.”
    “And Sara is most definitely my date,” James said. “I’d love to get her working for me, but Franklin and Scott is a great firm. I doubt I could entice her away. And it would interfere with our,” he paused and met my eyes, “ personal relationship.”
    Across the booth I heard Cathie whisper to Christie, “I think I just threw up a little. Tell me he’s not sleeping with her. So gross.” I flushed in embarrassment. If I’d heard, so had the rest of the table. They weren’t exactly subtle.
    “You know he’s not,” Christie whispered back. “She’s a total prude. She doesn’t sleep with anyone.”
    “How did you two meet?” my mother asked, covering the awkward silence left after Cathie and Christie’s comments.
    “It wasn’t terribly original,” James said, “We met at a restaurant. I saw Sara across the room and I knew I had to get to know her better.” He smiled down at me, his expression the perfect representation of a doting boyfriend.
    “And you asked her out?” Christie said.
    “Of course.”
    “But she’s fat.” This from Christie. My mother murmured her name in an embarrassed protest.
    “And boring,” Cathie added.