The Real Deal Read Online Free PDF

years. “Hey, maybe you can fly up for the weekend anyway.”
    Silence met that. “Are you okay, Amanda?”
    Darn. Why were best friends so discerning? “I just asked if you wanted to come up for the weekend. We could do the Seattle thing. Why does something have to be wrong?”
    â€œBecause when it comes to work, you are worse than anal retentive. You’re so focused, you could give a Zen Buddhist monk lessons.”
    She sure didn’t feel like a monk, or rather, a nun, not when every time she thought about Simon Brant her hormones started hopping around like rabbits hyped up on sugar. “There’s a glitch in the deal I’m trying to work out,” she admitted.
    â€œWhat kind of a glitch?”
    â€œA big one.” About six feet, two inches, of glitch.
    â€œBummer, hon. I’m sorry.”
    â€œMe too, but I’m not about to give up.”
    â€œOf course not. The only thing you’ve ever given up on is men. Everything else gets your try-till-you-die mentality.”
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    Driving down the same road for the third time in twenty minutes, she was having difficulty applying the try-till-you-die approach. Where the heck was the turnoff? She’d missed it twice and was now driving slower than she could be walking in the attempt not to miss it a third time. Wait. Was that an opening in the trees? It was. Carefully camouflaged, the opening to Simon’s drive could have easily been taken for a natural break in the flora and fauna alongside the road.
    Eric had said Simon was a privacy nut, but this was ridiculous. One of them could have mentioned that the entrance to his property was as well hidden as your average state secret. Not that Simon had mentioned anything. He’d told Eric to give her directions and then dismissed the whole situation by leaving.
    It was a good thing he was just a business associate and not her boyfriend. That kind of behavior would be really hard to take in a lover.
    Fortunately, she reached the gate before her wayward thoughts had a chance to go any farther afield.
    She stopped the rented Taurus and pressed its automatic window button. It whirred softly as the glass disappeared between her and the small black box she was supposed to talk into. She reached through the window, inhaling a big breath of fresh, forest-scented air, and pressed the red button below the box.
    â€œYeah?” There was no mistaking that crotchety voice. She’d only heard it once, but Simon’s housekeeper was unforgettable.
    â€œIt’s Amanda Zachary.”
    â€œExpected you here a good twenty minutes ago, missy. It don’t pay to be late if you expect to catch the boss out of his lab.”
    She glared at the box and reminded herself that this was business. For business, she could put up with a cranky old man.
    â€œI’m sorry. I missed the turn.”
    â€œGuess you missed it more than once if it took you an extra twenty minutes.”
    What was this guy, the timeliness cop? “Perhaps, since I am already late, you would be kind enough to buzz the gates open so that I won’t keep your employer waiting any longer.”
    â€œHe ain’t come out of the lab yet.”
    She ignored that bit of additional provocation and simply said, “The gate?”
    â€œCan’t.”
    â€œYou can’t open the gate?” She stared stupidly at the black box, at a complete loss.
    â€œRight.”
    â€œIs it broken?”
    â€œNope.”
    Anger overcame confusion and good sense. “Then what exactly is stopping you from opening the darn thing?”
    â€œYou got to get out of the car. I need to make a visual I.D. before I can open the gate.”
    â€œSince you’ve never seen me before, what exactly are you trying to identify?”
    â€œNo need to get snippy. I done my job. I got a picture of you. No use you asking how. I don’t share my trade secrets with just anybody.”
    For Heaven’s