Meet Your Mate (A Good Riders Romance Book 1) by Jacie Floyd Read Free Book Online Page B

“Don’t
tell me he was trying to get you drunk! That’s so juvenile.”
    “Oh, I don’t think so.” Annabel
pulled her feet under her and considered the idea. “He didn’t order the champagne.
The cameraman did. Besides, what would Max’s motive have been? We had a
chaperone, after all.”
    “Oh, right, the incredible hulk.”
Carly made a face. “That must have been like when I was in junior high. You’d
take me and Tommy Dent to the movies and sit in the row behind us.”
    “Except I didn’t train a camera on
you or tell you how to pose the whole time.”
    The corners of Carly’s mouth turned
up in a grin. “How did the luscious Max Williams respond to that? He doesn’t
look like someone who lets people tell him what to do.”
    “You forget, he’s used to taking
direction in his job.”
    “Only when he wants to, I’ll bet.”
    An image of his dark, determined
eyes rebelling against her suggestions the last time they worked together
flashed into mind. “I think you’re right.”
    “So, tell me everything,” Carly
demanded again.
    “It was better than I expected.”
Well, that wouldn’t have taken much. Now that the date was over, she should
warn Carly about their mutual dislike. “As Tess mentioned, Max and I knew each
other before. Remember when I did some freelance editing for the TV station? We
met then. And later, we hired him to do some voiceover work at Lasting
Productions. He acted like a naughty school boy, then I got all bossy and
uptight about the schedule and the budget and all that.” She bit her lip
remembering some of their more unpleasant exchanges. “You know how I can get.”
    Carly nodded with a twinkle in her
eye. “I know you’re serious about your work, Anna, but it’s not polite for me
to point out how OCD you are about every little thing.”
    Annabel accepted the comment with a
shrug and a grain of salt. “Too true.”
    “But weren’t there any sparks? He is a hottie .”
    She scrunched her nose in distaste.
“Yes, but he has kind of a wild reputation. You know, with women.” She thought
of her friend DeeDee and the questionable intern. And
Candy LaBar , the stripper. And who knew how many
others? Even rumors about Max and Tess Hartley had made the rounds when they
were both new in town.
    “I knew that.” Carly waved the
comment away. “That’s why I picked him. I figured once you went out with a
handful like Max, anyone that came along later would be a piece of cake.”
    “Why, you little stinker.”
Sometimes the girl showed more insight than the Psychic Friends Network .
“And I was worried you’d be disappointed when you found out your attempt at
matchmaking had missed its mark.”
    “Oh, well, I didn’t expect you to
fall madly in love and get married or anything, but going on Let’s Talk announced to the single men in Cincinnati that you’re available for a social
life. Since you admitted the other night that you were ready to cut loose a
little, I hoped I got it right, and that Max would be the perfect candidate.
And you have another date coming up. Who knows? You might enjoy it.”
    Annabel stood up and began putting
away the folded laundry. A hot mix of dread and excitement washed over her as
she anticipated the possibility of another date with Max, but cold reality
overshadowed both emotions. “Don’t count on it, sweetie. I doubt that he’ll
pick up the second-date option.”

    While Max drank his first mug of
coffee and caught up on the overnight news on CNN the next morning, he did his
best to talk himself out of calling Annabel.
    Confusing but tantalizing thoughts
about her had kept him awake most of the night. The way the candlelight picked
up about twenty different shades of blonde in her hair. The way her reserve
disappeared with the first glass of champagne. The way her eyes glowed when she
talked about her work. With each passing hour, he became more determined to
peel away every one of her protective layers until he unleashed the