The Boss's Surprise Son by Teresa Carpenter Read Free Book Online

glass and clicked rims with him. Still, his evasion challenged her. He didn’t often open up like this—okay he never opened up like this—and she perversely welcomed the chance to get to know more about him.
    Perversely because she knew better than to open herself to him.
    “I meant, don’t you want love in your life?” she asked curiously.
    “No.” He didn’t even hesitate. “I’m not getting married,” he reminded her. “Love isn’t worth the pain.”
    He’d been hurt. The sharpness of his tone revealed a depth of emotion he kept carefully buried. He’d lost his parents when he was so young. She knew how tough that was, knew how every subsequent loss to the heart compounded the pain, leaving you feeling raw and exposed. Those were not emotions that would sit easily with Rick.
    It saddened her to see such a strong man give up.
    “I’m sorry for your pain, but love hurts because it’s important.” She gently covered his hand with her own. “It doesn’t mean you have to give up on having a family of your own.”
    His openness closed down in a blink as he pulled his hand free of her touch and disappeared behind a facade of indifference.
    “It’s not a loss if it’s not what you want.”
    Or if you told yourself you didn’t want it so the hurting stopped. Kind of what she’d done with her dream of going to college.
    “You’re right.” Common sense returned on a wave of self-preservation. Why let his attitude bother her when she had self-deceptions of her own? Suddenly uncomfortable with the topic, she sought a change. “Who started this conversation anyway?”
    “You did,” he reminded her as he pushed his plate aside. “You said you wanted to settle down someday and have a family.”
    “Right. Well that’s a long way in the future.” Nodding to the waiter’s offer of coffee, she dismissed the serious conversation with a careless wave of her hand. “I’m not looking for anything permanent right now.” She met his gaze over her mug. “So maybe I need to know more about those rules you were talking about.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    “I’ M THINKING OF GOING BACK to school for a teacher’s degree,” Savannah announced to her sister the next afternoon. When Claudia had learned Savannah was traveling to London, she’d insisted on a shopping trip to update Savannah’s wardrobe.
    Claudia rounded the rack of dresses in a stylish boutique at the mall and gave Savannah a once-over and then, totally serious, nodded her head and said, “I think you’d make a really good teacher.”
    “Really?” Savannah couldn’t hide her wistfulness. “You’re not just saying that because you know it’s what I want to hear?”
    “Dude, you know that’s not me. I don’t do pretty little lies. And in this case I don’t have to. You’re smart, patient and creative, all great traits for a teacher. I think you should go for it.”
    “You don’t feel I’m too old to bother now?” Savannah asked.
    “Phff. There are people of all ages at State, but if it bothers you, try online classes. These days you can practically get your degree without ever going to theclassroom.” Claudia absently pushed a few hangers along the rack. “But isn’t this kind of sudden? What brought this idea on?”
    “I’ve always wanted to go to college, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to study. Something Rick said last night really started me thinking. Teaching feels right. But it’s been so long since I was in school.”
    “What did he say?” Of course, Claudia snagged on the Rick element.
    “I was telling him about some of the seminars I’ve attended at dinner last night, and he said I made something ridiculous sound interesting.”
    “At dinner you say?” Claudia wiggled her dark brows.
    “Oh, stop. It was a reward for putting in a long day.”
    “It sounds like you had a good time.”
    “Yes. I mean, no. It wasn’t like that. And believe me, I put my foot in my mouth before I was through.” She went on to