Operation: Tempt Me by Christina James Read Free Book Online Page B

he shared with
three of his buddies.
    Mrs. Ginnity
shook her head. “Who would guess that such a sweet boy could come from the
loins of the meanest man in this county?”
    Cambrie
studied Greg from afar. She had heard the rumors of his father’s temper but
hadn’t witnessed it herself. The younger Greg never spoke of his family when
she moderated the Teen Readers Group. He was always the first to arrive for the
group and last to leave. Odd because he had never really read any of the
assigned books and hardly participated in discussions.
    Cambrie
looked back to the woman waiting for an answer. “Mrs. Ginnity, would you really
mind closing for me today? I think I’d like to take you up on that offer to
leave early.”
    “If I didn’t
mean it, I wouldn’t have offered. Now scoot. I’ve got work to do. Will that be
all the books today, Mr. Belfrey?” she asked, as a middle-aged man stepped to
the checkout counter.
    Cambrie
locked her office and stopped at Greg’s table before leaving. “Greg, may I
speak with you for a minute?”
    The kid’s
face paled. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
    She frowned.
“No, of course not. I just need to ask you a huge favor.”
    He slowly
stood and walked with her to the front doors. He stared at the ground, kicking
his toe into the floor.
    Cambrie held
her briefcase in front of her with both hands and spoke in a low voice. “Greg,
I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to email the library’s adopted soldier
while he serves oversees. We’re competing for a special grant that could give
us enough money to keep the library open.”
    His head rose
until his gaze met hers. “Yeah, I heard you started that program. Sounds pretty
cool.”
    She smiled.
“So does that mean you’ll do it?” She had hoped he’d agree. Maybe talking with
a bad ass like Miller would give the kid some backbone and help him learn some
self-esteem. God knew his father wouldn’t do it.
    “I just have
to email? And say what?”
    Cambrie
shrugged. “Whatever you want to talk about. Sports. School. Hobbies. Anything.
His name is Lt. Miller Daly and he’s a pretty cool guy. See me tomorrow for his
contact info, okay?”
    “Sure. But I
don’t have a computer at home.” He didn’t look her in the eyes, instead staring
everywhere else.
    She shrugged,
not seeing that as an obstacle. “There’s computers here you can use after
school. I’ll set you up an email account.”
    “Cool.” He
walked away without another word.
    Cambrie felt
a stab of pain in her chest. The boy didn’t look like his friends did in their
happy-go-lucky teenage way. He looked lost.
    Dead on her
feet, Cambrie gave in to the luxury of an early end to her workday and walked
to her car as fast as she could. It wasn’t that she was truly tired, just
couldn’t stop kicking herself for appearing inhospitable with Miller. Was he
mad about her last email? Did he think she was blowing him off?
    God, she
hoped not because that wasn’t her intention. But if she were going to meet a
man who blatantly expressed his interest in hot, wild sex with her, she damn
well wanted to be at her best. To do that, she needed some time, time she just
didn’t have. She’d just email Miller when she got home and explain what she
meant. Beating herself up about it wouldn’t help, so the ball would be back in
his court.
    Driving home
only took five minutes, although she was tempted to stop and grab a burger and
fries. But since she’d splurged on the sex toys, every penny counted and she’d
have to forego the temptation of fast food and just microwave her pizza for
dinner.
    After pulling
into her driveway, Cambrie walked to her stairs, fumbling with her keys. She
really needed to get a separate key chain for work. Finding the key she needed,
she walked up the stairs only to stop mid-step, her mouth falling open.
    A man sat on
the wicker chair on her porch and was fast asleep. His body slumped with arms
crossed couldn’t hide his identity. She knew