It's News to Her by Helen R. Myers Read Free Book Online Page B

schools. Be careful, you may have just earned yourself more work.”
    Hunter saluted him with her bottle. “Believe me, that kind of assignment would be a treat.”
    â€œBecause you’re that civic-minded or you like kids as much as you seem to?”
    â€œBoth.”
    â€œDo you plan to have your own someday?”
    Well, that didn’t take long, she thought. “There you go, diving into personal information again.”
    Undeterred, Cord said, “I’ll take that as an affirmative. You all but cooed over your former schoolmates’ pictures of their children.”
    â€œBecause the last time I saw Lisa and Mike, we were discussing Lisa getting her driver’s license, while my mother insisted I should wait until we got to Texas. I had no idea they were together, let alone had children. It was a nice surprise.”
    â€œWas it? He’s the one who was supposed to take you to the junior prom that you didn’t attend, right?”
    â€œThat really didn’t take much deductive reasoning, Mr. Rivers.”
    â€œWhat’s it going to take for you to call me Cord?”
    More hypnosis, she thought. “We’re not friends.”
    â€œWe will be if you’ll stop being so stubborn.” When Hunter opened her mouth to reply, he quickly added, “Okay, as your boss, I give you a free pass whenever we’re alone to call me Cord.”
    Despite her initial intentions to dislike and distrust the man, he’d been nothing but kind and generous to her, and guilt started to act like a wet blanket on her resolve. Hunter allowed that it was probably fatigue and the news about Mr. Henry’s illness that was compromising her judgment; nevertheless, she relented.
    â€œMaybe. Sometimes…Cord.”
    His smile lasted all the way back to the plane.
    Â 
    Hunter had to admit the return flight seemed to go faster than the trip up and allowed that it was more pleasant, as well. She wasn’t even as anxious about flying. The champagne was undoubtedly helping.
    When she had reclaimed the seat she’d sat in before, Cord resumed his on the opposite side. She supposed he was being kind again to make it easier for her to avoid looking outside. Plus, it allowed him to get a better view of her legs and bare feet, she concluded, catching him for the fourth time. Several of the crew had remarked about them on various occasions, so she supposed they were decent, and while her fingers might not be polished, her toenails were a cotton-candy pink. Men could get pretty silly about a woman’s painted toenails.
    â€œAre you a Democrat or Republican?” Cord asked from his side of the aisle Hunter did a double take. They had just exhausted the subject of where to get the best Asian takeout in San Antonio while devouring the takeout that Chris had obtained for them. “That’s none of your business. I’m an American first, a journalist second, which ethically speaking means you’re not supposed to be able to tell which way my feelings lean.” Then mischief got the best of her. “Besides, I’m neither. I’m an Independent.”
    Cord gestured expansively. “Yet another thing we have in common. Who would have guessed it? What about TV in general?”
    His eyes glistened in the subdued cabin light, and Hunter had to blink to keep from becoming transfixed. “I told you, my work leaves me with little time to follow any program with any dedication. I do well to catch movie trailers and keep up with box office statistics, so that I don’t feel entirely clueless with what everyone else is talking about in the hallways or when we have a special guest from the entertainment world stopping by. I’m almost as bad about reading anything that’s fiction on the bestseller lists. My desk and nightstand are stacked with nonfiction.”
    â€œDoes that mean you’re also in the dark regarding sports?”
    â€œNot guilty, Your