Selling Grace: A Light Romance Novel (Art of Grace Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

to change the topic. "What was it, again?"
    His smile widened. "I'm Carter James."
    Oh shit.
    Carter burst out laughing as I squeezed my eyes shut and, just for good measure, dropped my forehead down onto the stack of papers on my desk. "And yes, I can tell you right now that I am totally a stuck-up jerk. I can't wait for you to go jumping through all of the ridiculous hoops that I hold up."
    "Oh my god," I groaned, still pressing my forehead against the cool papers on top of my desk. I'd be beet red when I lifted my head back up. "Oh shit. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you-"
    A finger tapped on top of my own hand on the desk, and I lifted my head back up. The top sheet of paper clung to my forehead, and I brushed it off. Carter, fortunately, was still smiling at me.
    "Relax," he told me, patting the back of my hand with his fingers. "If I hadn't met me, I'd probably think that I was a total jerk, too."
    "Yeah, but I also fell on you, made you carry me back to my desk," I pointed out. "That's about the worst impression that I could possibly make."
    "No - you could also have insulted my mother," Carter said. "Although if you're still planning on slipping that in now-"
    "No no no," I quickly burst out. "I'm sure that she's a lovely woman. Uh, not that I would presume anything-"
    To stop myself from babbling some more, I reached up and clapped a hand over my mouth. I held up one finger, indicating to Carter that he ought to just give me a second. I slowly took in a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm my overheated brain.
    "Hi," I finally said, doing my best to put on a smile and pull together the tattered shreds of my professionalism.
    "Hi," Carter answered me, smiling back. "I'm Carter James, real estate agent for the area."
    "Rebecca Grace, although everyone just calls me Becca," I said. I took Carter's hand and gave it a shake. "I'm the new manager of the art gallery. Feel free to take a look around, and let me know if you have any questions."
    "Good job." Carter gave my hand a little squeeze, and I tried to not think about how smooth and dexterous his fingers felt. "That sounded very professional."
    "Really?" I reluctantly let go of his hand as my smile slipped away. "I hate to burden you with this, but I'm totally out of my depth here. The only thing that I have any experience selling is tomatoes."
    "Tomatoes?" His eyebrows rose questioningly.
    I nodded. "When I was a teenager, I helped out at the local farmer's market. The stall that hired me was for a tomato farm, so I spent every Saturday morning during the summer and fall sitting behind a bench and selling tomatoes to little old ladies."
    "Ah, I see." It looked like Carter was trying very hard to hold back a laugh. "I bet you were very good at selling those - and I'm sure the skills will transfer."
    "You think so?"
    He nodded. "Besides, most of the tourists who wander into this gallery are little old ladies, on vacation and looking for something to buy with their retirement savings or Social Security checks to remind them of their visit out to the west coast. If you could charm them into buying tomatoes, you can probably charm them into buying little oil paintings to bring back to their senior centers or hang on the walls of their little retirement communities."
    "Sure," I agreed. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that, despite his reassuring words, Carter was definitely not a little old lady. Rather, he was something new and exciting and a little scary, making butterflies flutter in the pit of my stomach.
    Surreptitiously, I snuck another glance down at his hand. I hadn't felt anything when he shook my hand, but a look now confirmed that there was no ring present. So he wasn't married, at least. That didn't mean that he wasn't engaged, or dating someone, or otherwise off the market - and drawing my eyes back up to his handsome face, with those lively, sparkling eyes, I felt all but certain that some other woman had snatched up this