Love 'Em or Leave 'Em by Angie Stanton Read Free Book Online Page A

Duke?" he teased with a smirk.
    She tried to ignore his long masculine leg resting against hers and continued, "He shouldn't be too muscular."
    Luke looked down at his buff physique and raised his muscular arm to flex his bicep. He gave her another of his devilish grins. "I'm a wimp compared to a linebacker."
    "I don't like a show-off," she returned, trying to act natural. "He must be intellectual, and proud of it. In fact, I'd like someone a little on the nerdy side. I find it really endearing."
    With that Luke took off his sunglasses, then put them back on upside down, and in an odd nasal voice recited, "E equals M-C squared"
    Laughing at how goofy he looked and sounded, Ashley whacked him on the arm with her paperback, which he grabbed from her. "Seriously, there is something very attractive about a nerdy guy who isn't walking around with all kinds of macho body confidence"
    Luke gave her a cockeyed look. "Yeah, sure there is."
    "Oh, and rich ... He's got to be absolutely loaded," she added.
    "Can't argue with that one." He grinned.
    Trying to ignore him, she said, "I can't be tying myself down to some poor schmuck who isn't willing to drop the big bucks on me. You may have money, but it's small potatoes compared to what I want"
    "I can see you have expensive tastes," he pointed out as he waved her dime-store novel in the air before tossing it back into her lap.
    She attempted to ignore his accurate observation, and changed the subject. "I'm afraid it never would have worked out between the two of us"
    He gave her a challenging look, as if to say, "So you think so, do you?"
    "So sorry. I'm sure you'll find happiness somewhere along the way, but I'm just looking for someone a bit more ... accomplished in life."
    "I see," Luke replied. "Sounds as though I have a lot of work to do before I could begin to appeal to such a classy girl as you" He glanced down at the trashy novel lying on her soda-soaked lap. "So please, correct me if I'm wrong here, but basically you are taking up a spot the woman of my dreams might have filled. You are depriving some sweet young thing from having the opportunity of getting to know me"
    "Yes, I suppose you're right, but think of it this way: I'm one less person to put pressure on you and look at you with innocent little puppy-dog eyes saying, `Pick me, pick me,'" she mocked, doing her best whiny puppy imitation.
    "Actually," Luke said in a soft, sexy voice as he leaned back onto one elbow, "I get more bedroom eyes from the women than I do puppy-dog looks. I guess they are appealing to my more masculine instincts."
    "Ah, right," she replied, swallowing down her arousal at his low voice. "You do have quite a reputation as a ladies' man"
    Ashley noticed the camera crew jogging down the beach toward them. "Oh great," she said. "They found me, I mean you! You have got to leave-now." She popped up from the soda-drenched chair and retied the wet beach wrap around her hips.
    "I'm out of here" She turned to Luke once more. "Thanks for dropping by, Luke. I wish you the best in your quest to find that special someone"
    Ashley grabbed her towel and book and quickly moved down the beach before the camera crews could catch up and corner her. Luke watched her hips sway as she escaped with her soggy beach wrap slapping against her milk-white thighs. He had come out to the beach for a breath of fresh air and been rewarded with much more. He'd met a stubborn woman declaring herself off the show.
    Luke found Ashley refreshing. This show had become so intense, with each woman trying to tell him her life story and learn his in only a few hours. But here was Ashley, telling him to his face that he wasn't her type. He wasn't sure if it had ever happened before. This whole thing had just taken a new turn. Unknowingly, she'd started a whole new ball game. He had a surprise for her: Game on!
    Luke wondered what her angle was. Everyone had one. Perhaps hers was to play coy and hard-to-get. Either way, she was a lot easier