A Bravo Homecoming by Christine Rimmer Read Free Book Online

Travis’s mom an excuse to take a break from her never-ending matchmaking, giving Travis a break, too. For a while, anyway, he wouldn’t have women thrown at him constantly when he wasn’t interested in anything like that.
    He’d loved Rachel Selkirk, loved her deeply and completely, the way only a good, true-hearted man can love his woman. And he didn’t want to go there again, didn’t want to take the chance of being hurt like that again. Just like Sam didn’t want to be hurt.
    Sam folded her hands on top of the covers and stared up at the dark ceiling above and thought about how, maybe, after she got through the week with the Bravos, after she found her new job, she just might consider maybe going on a date again. She might consider giving love and romance and all that stuff another chance.
    The thing with Zach had been so long ago. Maybe it was time she let it go, got her girly on in more ways than just her clothes and learning to sip tea without slurping.
    Hey, a woman needed love in her life.
    And Sam Jaworski knew now that she was just like most other women. A little taller and a lot stronger maybe. With a different kind of job history than most women had.
    But with the same hungers in her lonely heart.
    She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
    And dreamed of Travis.
    It was a hazy, indistinct sort of dream. When she woke up the next morning, she didn’t remember much about it. Except that she and Travis were together.
    And in the dream, she’d started to feel sad because she knew it was all a lie and it wasn’t going to last.
    Because the honest truth was, she never wanted it to end.

Chapter Four
     
    S he got through the next day without once wishing she could wring Jonathan’s neck.
    Even though he pushed her constantly to do better, to try harder, even though he remained as snooty and superior as ever, well, she was okay with that. If Travis hadn’t told her what her coach really thought about her, she never would have guessed that Jonathan believed she was doing well.
    But Travis had told her, and his telling her had boosted her confidence enough that she threw herself into her training with new enthusiasm. She worked even harder than before.
    And that second shopping trip on Thursday?
    It wasn’t easy, but it was better. She discovered she was getting the hang of what to look for, getting an eye for spotting the finds in an endless sea of different fabrics, colors and styles.
    They went back to the hotel that day with more shopping bags than the time before. Jonathan couldn’t help smiling at how well she’d done.
    And she laughed. “I know you’re proud of me, Jonathan. I can see it on your face.”
    “Ahem. Well. Don’t get too confident. We have a lot more to do.”
    She nodded. “I know. And I’m ready for whatever you can throw at me.”
    His eyelids drooped lazily over those sharp dark eyes, a look of pure satisfaction. “Perhaps you would enjoy a T-bone steak, rare, and a large baked potato this evening as a reward for work well done?”
    She clapped her de-callused hands. “Oh, Jonathan. You have no idea.”
    “An hour in the gym first,” he ordered gruffly.
    She was only too pleased to pull on the clingy, sexy workout clothes they’d bought that day and head down to the hotel gym. She kicked butt on the treadmill and then pumped iron for all she was worth.
    And at six-thirty that evening, she was treated to the most beautiful slab of beef she’d ever seen. She wanted to saw off a huge, juicy hunk and shove it in her mouth, to chew without worrying about keeping her lips together, to let the juice run down her chin.
    But she didn’t. She put her napkin in her lap and she picked up her fork and knife and took her time about it. She cut each small bite smoothly and neatly—no sawing. She chewed slowly and thoroughly. She even managed to make polite conversation while she ate.
    Jonathan didn’t once have to reprimand her.
    And it was…. kind of fun really. Kind of