Pedal to the Metal: Love's Drivin' but Fate's Got the Pole (The 'Cuda Confessions Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

hall to the main building.
    I stopped dead, staring at the huge man seated in one of the dainty wing chairs in the reception hall. Dale Hannah wrung his baseball cap like his permanent accessory had offended him somehow.
    “Mr. Hannah? So nice to finally meet you.” Dr. Jamison, elegant in her linen suit, stepped out of the hallway leading to her office suite. Dale jumped to his feet.
    It was nearly noon. Students crowded the stairway to my left, tromping up the stairs toward Pell Hall, a rambling dormitory building that adjoined the main building. Others galloped down the stairs and made the turn, heading for the dining room. Taking advantage of the general mayhem, I edged behind a potted fichus tree.
    “Thanks for makin’ time.” Dale’s deep voice carried over the higher-pitched tones of the female population. A few slowed to gawk, forcing me to lean in order to keep him in sight. He stuffed the hat into the back pocket of his jeans. “I know what it’s like to be busier than a one-armed paperhanger in a mansion full of empty rooms. This won’t take long, I promise.”
    “Not a problem. Would you like to step into my office? I just sent down for a fresh pot of coffee.”
    “Thank you kindly, but like I said when I asked you to work me in, this won’t take long. I just come to say one thing.”
    They made the trip down the short hallway. I waited until they turned into the outer office, then followed. Dr. Jamison’s receptionist wasn’t at her desk. I eased the tray onto the secretary’s desk, unsure whether to knock. Dr. Jamison left her door ajar, but not enough to let me see them. I froze when Dale spoke again.
    “You see, ma’am, I built my mansion for me an’ my boys, but the dang place always felt half empty. I wanted a little girl who’d be just as beautiful as her mama, but that never happened for me, until I met Shelby’s mama. I was pleased, to be honest, that Shelby was almost grown. Meant I got to skip the birds and bees talk, ‘cause, ain’t no doubt, I’d have mucked that up.”
    Dr. Jamison’s giggle made me think, even though the administrator had to be past fifty, she wasn’t immune to Dale’s looks.
    “And I’d a bought that kid the moon to put a smile in those big green eyes, but she woulda surely thought me a miser when it come time to buy her first bra.”
    Dale was working his good ol’ southern boy charm for all it was worth. But, why?
    The president laughed out loud. “I never married myself, but I have it on good authority that you aren’t the first father to feel that way, Mr. Hannah.”
    Dale’s sigh carried to the spot where I stood. “Ma’am, I know I gotta be the only man in the world whose biggest problem with his stepdaughter was that she run away to college, but I gotta be honest. I weren’t too happy to find she’d washed up on your doorstep.”
    “Oh?”
    “Nope. See, I checked this place out, after we found out where she’d run to. I thought you’d make her into a cardboard cut-out to prop up beside some wealthy husband. In my business, we call that a trailer queen. Just for show.”
    “I believe the term you want is arm candy.” I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing aloud at Dr. Jamison’s tart tone. “We do a good deal more than that, Mr. Hannah.” I didn’t need to see her face to know my mentor’s eyes flashed with anger.
    “See, that’s what I come to say. I had occasion recently to see proof of the job you done. You turned the little wildcat that claimed my heart the first time she ever spit in my direction into a self-assured woman who can tell a man off so sweet, he’s halfway down the road a’fore the sting sets in.”
    Dr. Jamison’s huff said she hadn’t forgiven Dale for the trailer queen remark. “Poise is merely a side benefit to the education we provide.”
    “Yes, ma’am. That’s what brought me here. Me and Shelby had a disagreement recently. What she said, right off the cuff, was religion and