Outmatched in October (Spring River Valley Book 10) by Clarice Wynter Read Free Book Online Page B

she wasn’t going to let it go.
    “I don’t remember. Some kid came into the store selling them.” Why didn’t he just come clean at this point? If he dug this hole any deeper the walls would just come crashing down on him.
    “So, if you won, how will you know who to go to for your winnings?”
    “Is this the inquisition? I bought a ticket. I probably didn’t win. Why the twenty questions?”
    “I’m just making conversation.” She folded her hands primly in her lap, just above the hem of her sexy little dress. Owen forced himself to watch the road instead of the way the burgundy material rode up her thigh.
    “It’s a nice night out,” he said after rolling down the driver’s-side window to let in some much needed air. “That’s conversation.”
    “But the teams that are playing the ‘big game’ isn’t conversation?”
    “Statements are conversation, not questions.” He eyed a passing street sign. Two more blocks to her place and this torture would be over. Would she wear that sweet little dress for Armani guy?
    Now her hair was blowing in the breeze from the open window, lashing around her face. He forced his attention back to the road.
    “So asking a question isn’t conversation?”
    “No, it’s interrogation.”
    “You’re losing your mind. How about that for a statement?”
    “You followed it with a question.”
    “Oh, God. Why is it so impossible to talk to you?”
    “What do you want to talk about?”
    “I don’t know. Me…leaving. Going to New York.”
    Just exactly what he didn’t want to talk about. “So talk. You got the job. Congratulations. What more is there to say?”
    “I don’t know. You tell me. What more is there to say?”
    One more block. Would he make it before he lost his mind and broke down begging her not to go? “Nothing. It’s a great opportunity, and you deserve it.” There it was, the two-story house where Claudia lived with her friend Lily. The upstairs apartment was dark. No one home. He was almost free of this torture, but he just couldn’t stop talking now. “As long as it’s not contingent on anything.”
    “Contingent? What does that mean?” She was staring at him, eyes blazing.
    “Nothing.” He eased the car toward the curb.
    “Of course it means something.”
    “It means,” he paused, hands tight on the steering wheel as the car came to a stop. “It’s a great opportunity as long as it’s not contingent on you sleeping with him.”
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    If Owen had slapped her, Claudia wouldn’t have been more shocked than she was by his insinuation that Jacob had hired her only as a ruse to get her into bed.
    Her mouth dropped open and she stared at his profile, stunned that he thought she was that naive. “Is that what you think? That I had to sleep with Jacob to get the job he was offering?”
    “Maybe not to get it. What about to keep it?” He never turned his head, just sat there, hands gripping the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. His jaw was clenched, and his shoulders had climbed up around his ears.
    “That’s what you think of me?”
    “Not you. Him.”
    “You don’t even know him.”
    “Do you?” Now he looked at her, the blue-green of his eyes reduced to a thin ring in the dark of the car. “This guy shows up out of nowhere, offers you a dream job, and expects nothing in return?”
    “He expects me to sing. That’s all.” She wanted her response to be strong and unquestionable and fierce, but instead she choked on the words, tears clogging her throat. Did Owen have the slightest idea how scared she was that she was making a mistake? Did he know that the last thing she needed was someone to cas t more doubt on this opportunity?
    She didn’t wait for a response. Instead she threw the car door open and climbed out, slamming it as hard as she could behind her. “Maybe you think I couldn’t get a real singing job on talent alone, but…” But what? It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t crossed her