Change of Heart (The Flanagan Sisters, #2) by Claire Boston Read Free Book Online Page B

was happily programming her software, and the next she was running a billion dollar company.
    Her. The shy little no one from El Salvador.
    After changing her outfit, she reapplied her makeup and then checked the time. She’d catch a cab to the restaurant. As she was about to call the number, her cell rang. She answered without checking who it was.
    “Carly, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
    She closed her eyes at the sound of Evan’s voice. She’d forgotten he had her cell number. She’d have to have a word to Zita about who she gave her number to. “I’m just on my way to a work dinner,” she said and then cringed. Why did she have to add “work”? She should have given him the impression she was a serial dater. That would scare him off.
    “I won’t keep you then. I wanted to organize our own dinner date. How about Saturday night?”
    “Let me check.” She reached for her tablet and opened her calendar. She was free. Her first free Saturday in months. What were the odds? She sighed. What should she do? Lie to him?
    “With the weather cooling down, it might be nice to go on a picnic,” he said.
    “A picnic?” She couldn’t remember the last time she went on a picnic. She wasn’t sure she had any appropriate clothing.
    “Yeah. How about I pick you up at five thirty?”
    The idea was intriguing. She yearned to say yes. But could she really risk it?
    “I’ll organize everything,” he persisted.
    That was the tipping point. The hope she was holding down bubbled up. The idea of not having to do anything was appealing as hell. “All right.”
    “Great. I’ll see you then.” He hung up.
    Carly lowered her phone. Was she finally going mad? There was no way she should have agreed to the date. At a bare minimum, she should have put him off for a couple of weeks to check if he was really interested. But no, she’d agreed to go on a picnic of all things. She would definitely have to dig through her wardrobe to see if she had anything casual enough to wear. She wasn’t sure she even had any flat shoes, except her tennis shoes. She’d got rid of anything without a heel when her stylist had told her she looked diminutive without them.
    Her chest was already tightening at the thought. She’d just have to cancel. She’d call during the week and make some excuse.
    But right now she had to get to dinner.
    ***
    E van hung up the phone and chuckled. Carly hadn’t been expecting his picnic idea. He was pleased he’d thought of it. When he’d debated where to take her on their date, he’d immediately ruled out all the high class places. She’d be used to going to those, and anyway his budget didn’t stretch quite that far. He’d also considered taking her to one of his favorite little restaurants, but he wanted to be alone with her. He had the feeling she wouldn’t open up if she was surrounded by people. Which made a picnic the perfect idea.
    The only problem was, he had no idea what food to take. Carly could be vegetarian, or allergic to something. He debated for a brief second about calling Zita. He could do with all the help he could get.
    “Z, I need some help,” he said when she answered.
    “What’s up?”
    “I’m taking Carly on a picnic on Saturday and I forgot to ask her if there was anything she didn’t eat.”
    “Wait. What? Carly agreed to go on a date with you?” She sounded incredulous.
    His back stiffened. “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”
    “No, not at all.” She laughed. “That’s fantastic. I can’t remember the last time Carly had a date – at least one she told us about.”
    Evan relaxed. She didn’t have a problem with him. “So, is she allergic to anything, or vegetarian?”
    “Nope. She loves fresh, crusty white bread, but she doesn’t allow herself to eat it very often. Oh, and you should definitely throw in some pâté and those little red pepper things stuffed with cheese. She loves those.”
    He grabbed a scrap of paper and made notes. “Does she have