Redhead Blitz by Janie Mason Read Free Book Online Page B

of her, and the sweet green of her eyes softened his irritation. “You’re right, I should have.   And I meant to.”   Then Gigi averted her gaze and lightly scratched at a pit in the surface of his desk with a crimson-painted nail.   “To be honest, you bruised my pride when you assumed I was hitting on you.”
    Of, course.   The woman probably had more men asking her out than she could handle.   Why would he have thought she needed to solicit dates?   His shoulders slumped.   I’m an idiot .
    His remaining energy drained out through his shoes.   “ Gigi , I’ve been putting in so many hours in the evening, I’m just not thinking straight sometimes.”   He resigned himself to embarrassment as well as the rest of the news.
    “Just how bad is this ding?”
    “It’s small, very small.   And I promise I’ll take care of the damages.”   She studied him. Was she waiting for him to lose his temper?
    But he couldn’t.   Gigi wasn’t some careless stranger who’d tried to skulk away.   She was a conscientious coworker who was admitting to the accident of her own free will.   Funny, he’d anticipated the first damage to his car would make him furious.   But he couldn’t muster up the energy.
    “Okay.   I’ll have to get some estimates for the repairs.”   Just when he’d find the time to squeeze that in, he wasn’t sure.   December, maybe?   “Have you called your insurance company, yet?”
    “No, I was waiting to see if I could afford to cover the repairs myself.   That way they won’t jack up my rates.”   Her brows rose.   “Is that okay with you?”
    The bell signaling the end of fifth period rang.   Sean transferred the stack of essays back into his bag.   So much for getting the papers graded.   “That’s fine,” he said.   “It’ll take me a while to get that done, though.”
    “I’m not going anywhere,” Gigi said, giving him an uncertain smile.   “I’m really sorry, Sean.”
    “I appreciate you telling me.   Most people would have driven off and never given it another thought.”
    “I wouldn’t call myself a candidate for sainthood...”
    Looking the way she did, that was unlikely.
    “...and my parents never bothered taking my brother and me to Sunday school, but somewhere along the way I learned the Golden Rule.”   Her smile began slowly and spread until it lit up her face.
    The sound of a teenage girl’s squeal from the hallway snapped Sean back to real time.   “Shi—” He shook his head.   “I’m late.   Gotta go.”
    Why was it he was always running late, and away from Gigi ?   He took off down the hall, hoping none of his sixth period students set a fire before he could get to the classroom.

    Gigi parked Heidi’s car in front of Rafferty’s Auto Repair and dropped the keys into her friend’s hand when they met at the door.   “Thanks so much for letting me use your car the past few days.”
    “No problem.   Rafe and I still want to spend every minute together, so I didn’t really need it.”   The look on Heidi’s face was pure bliss.   Being married to Rafe was making her happier than Gigi could ever remember.   She pretended to hunt for something in her purse while envy-triggered moisture pooled in her eyes.   She blinked it away.   “So the honeymoon’s not over yet?”
    “Far from it.”   Heidi waggled her eyebrows but didn’t elaborate.
    Although Gigi would love to hear all about Heidi’s love life and live vicariously through her experiences, her friend’s sexual escapades with her new husband were none of her business.   And with the challenge of this fundraiser project, she didn’t even have time to curl up with a good romance novel and pretend she was married to the perfect hero who couldn’t get his fill of wild, passionate sex.   And now that she thought about it, why was it every romance hero she pictured in her head looked exactly like Sean?
    “Uh, oh.”   Heidi gave her an all-too-knowing