The Park at Sunrise by Lee Brazil Read Free Book Online

debit card when required. Fortunately it worked. When she handed back my card and the package, I placed my hand at the small of Jason's back and urged him toward the door, throwing back over my shoulder as I exited, "You should use the slope intercept formula to double-check your graphs."
    Jason's chuckles as I guided him to my rental car diverted his attention from the fact that he had his own car. We could come back for it. I had him buckled in, and we were halfway to our destination before he remembered it. I ignored his quizzical glances as I steered through the slushy streets. I wanted to arrive at our destination at a certain time, and then it occurred to me that after nine years, it might not be there anymore.
    On the opposite side of campus there was a second park. This one was more popular, being closer to the student union and the dorms, and that was one of the reasons we'd preferred the other. That park was on the east side of campus; this one was on the west.
    That park was perfect for watching the sun rise over the tree line. This one was perfect for watching the sun dip below the mountains. This one was perfect for a new beginning, a new memory, a new promise.
    I guess I'm not as subtle, or as romantic, or as hard to read as I might like to think. Jason caught on to what I was up to right away, and he was all smiles as we left the car.
    Hand in hand we crossed the park, ignoring the half-shoveled walkways to traipse through the thick layer of snow, ignoring the raised brows—whether they were caused by our clasped hands or our paint-spattered clothes—as we searched for the perfect place to observe the sun sinking below the horizon.
    Once again, seated on a snowy bench, I scarcely felt the icy water seeping through my jeans. I leaned my head against Jason's, gazed down into his eyes again—I could spend the rest of my life drowning in those green depths.
    "I'm going to ask you to do something I have never asked you to do before. Promise me you'll say yes." I whispered his words from earlier back to him. I felt his smile more than I saw it.
    "I promise."
     
     
    THE END

KEEPING HOUSE

Truth or Dare #1
     
    Mischa knew his brothers were up to something. He didn't know it would lead him to Donovan Holloway and change his carefree lifestyle forever.
    Donovan Holloway, advertising executive, newly made vice president of the company where he's worked for twenty years, grew up in a free love hippie commune, taking care of the parents who should have been taking care of him. He's worked hard to put himself through school and achieve the American dream. All he's ever wanted was a normal family life—house in the suburbs, two cars, two kids, a shaggy dog. A family to come home to—to care for, and to care for him.
    Mischa Blake is the green eyed, liberally-pierced, black-haired, Mohawk-wearing spoiled youngest son of a Hollywood producer and his actress wife. Mischa has made a terrible mistake. In a fit of childish pique, he's accepted a dare from his older brothers. The dare? Live on his own, supporting himself completely for a year without accessing his trust fund. No problem. Except Mischa has never worked a day in his life, hasn't finished college, and has absolutely no skills that he can bring to the table.
    So when he sees Donovan's ad for a housekeeper/gardener, he has nothing to lose by applying, because really...how hard can it be?
     
     
    EXCERPT
    "So, tell me why you want to work for me." That should give him pause.
    "I don't. My brothers dared me to get a job, and it's been a lot harder than I expected. I just came from a McDonald's where the manager had a guy with a BS cleaning the toilets and an MBA flipping burgers. The economy sucks." Mischa sounded dejected.
    " Ahh." He wanted a job on a dare? What the hell? Who told a prospective employer they didn't want to work for them? "Let me tell you a little about the parameters of the job."
    Mischa gazed at him quietly, waiting. Maybe the daunting aspects