Trust in Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

grace into an environment so obviously foreign to her was crazy. He didn't doubt that she had the intelligence and the skill to master the job and adapt. But her capacity to handle the job didn't change the fact that she'd be ... well, a princess among peasants. Totally out of place.
    And Ray. Cripes .
    Ray would eat her for lunch. He'd take one look at the gorgeous blonde and be all over her with his suggestive comments and unwelcome advances.
    The thought of Ray so much as touching Claire pricked Kevin in a way that had nothing to do with the store's liability. The truth was he'd taken one look in her gold eyes and been lost. Her gorgeous eyes and mesmerizing smile had cast a spell over him, made him forget for a magic moment that in real life princesses and frogs didn't mix.
    Maybe, years before, he'd have questioned that truth. But Robin had cured him of his idealism where love and women were concerned. She'd taken one look at his life, what her future held if she married him, and she'd run. Far and fast.
    Ribbit.
    Puffing out his cheeks, Kevin blew a resigned breath through pursed lips. For better or worse, Claire started at the store tomorrow. He had his work cut out for him. Not only did he need to shield her from Ray, he should make her transition from the country club to the countryside as smooth as possible. After all, he'd hired her. She was his responsibility.
    Kevin poked his key in the doorknob of his run-down trailer and crooked a wry grin at the irony. He locked his door even though he, and everyone else in Grayson, knew he had nothing worth stealing. He stepped inside, where the day's accumulated heat smothered him. Casting a glance around at his ragtag collection of duct tape-mended furniture and second-hand appliances, he shook his head. Not much to look at but it was home. He took a certain pride in knowing he'd earned every stick of his shabby furnishings through hard work and perseverance. One small step at a time, he'd work his way out of debt and have the life he'd always dreamed of, where the month ran out before his paycheck did.
    Financially challenged was how he preferred to think of his dire straits. He could conquer a challenge. A challenge left room for hope, the possibility of rising from his circumstances to go on to bigger and better things.
    So why did his trailer and empty pantry seem so much more frustrating tonight?
    His answer came when Claire's face and aristocratic posture filtered through his mind.
    Ribbit.
    Kevin quelled the voice of the damn frog that had moved into his brain and tossed his keys on the scarred kitchen table. Yanking his shirt off, he turned his box fan on high. For a moment, he merely stood in the artificial breeze and let it cool his sweaty skin. He sighed in bliss as the stream of air caressed his overheated body. Air conditioning would be the first thing he bought when he finally earned his college degree and moved on to a better paying job. Just imagining a temperature-controlled home brought a smile to his face. Kevin snorted. Wasn't he easy to please?
    A loud clatter outside drew his attention away from dreams of cool, dry air. "Get out of my trash can, Mutt!"
    He turned and let the fan blow on his back.
    Another rattle and crash.
    "Dumb dog. If you knock over my trash again, I'll—" Through his window, Kevin caught a glimpse of a man in his yard, and the rest of his grumble died on his lips. Sam.
    Kevin opened his front door and leaned outside. "Hey, Sam, why don't you come inside and get a real meal? Leave the trash for Mutt to ransack."
    The town vagrant looked up, tossed a banana peel back in the can and ambled over to the door. Sam sported several days' worth of beard, body odor and grime, along with an appreciative smile that twisted inside Kevin. He was glad his mother couldn't see Sam now. His bleak condition would break her heart.
    "You're a good man, Kevin. A good man." Sam shuffled past him and into the trailer. "Your daddy'd be proud of what ya