Finding Perfect Read Online Free Page B

looking at your butt.”
    Raoul stared at her.
    She shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
    â€œYou’re certainly feeling better.”
    â€œIt’s more a matter of not being on the edge of hysteria,” she admitted.
    She turned her attention back to the school. It was obviously going to be in ruins when all this was over. “How big is your place?” she asked. “You seem like the mansion type. Could they hold classes in your foyer?”
    â€œI rent a two-bedroom house from Josh Golden.”
    â€œThen that would be a no. They’re going to have to put the kids somewhere.”
    â€œWhat about the other schools in town?”
    â€œMarsha said they were thinking about bringing in those portable classrooms.”
    â€œMarsha?”
    â€œMayor Marsha Tilson. My boss. You know Josh Golden?”
    Raoul nodded.
    â€œHe’s married to her granddaughter.”
    â€œGot it.”
    He seemed less stunned now, which probably made him feel better. With the smoke smudges on his face, he looked pretty attractive, she thought absently. Not that he hadn’t been devastatingly handsome before. He was the kind of man who made a woman do stupid things. Thank goodness she was immune. A lifetime of romantic failures had a way of curing a woman of foolishness.
    â€œWe should make another appointment,” she said. “I’ll call your office and set things up with your secretary.”
    â€œThere you go, assuming again. I don’t have a secretary.”
    â€œHuh. Who sets up your calendar and makes you feel important?” she said with a wink.
    He studied her for a second. “Are you like this with everyone?”
    â€œCharming?” She laughed. “As a rule. Just ask around.”
    â€œMaybe I will.”
    He was teasing. She knew he was teasing. Yet she felt something. A flicker. Maybe a quiver, down low in her belly.
    No way, she reminded herself as she waved and walked toward her car. Especially not with a man like him. Successful, handsome men had expectations. Blonde ambitions. She knew—she read People magazine.
    Life had taught her many important lessons. The greatest of which was not to depend on anyone to be there for her. She was a strong, independent woman. Men were optional and right now she was going to just say no.
    Â 
    R AOUL SPENT THE NEXT hour at the school. The firefighters got the fire under control. The chief had told him they would have a presence for at least the next twenty-four hours, to control any hot spots. Cleanup would start when the remaining structure had cooled and the investigation was complete.
    It was the kind of disaster he’d read about in the paper and seen on the news a dozen times over the years. But even the best reporting hadn’t prepared him for the reality of the heat, the destruction and the smell. It wouldbe months, maybe years, before the campus was even close to normal.
    The kids had all gone home, as had most of the spectators. Eventually he turned to walk back to his office. His car wasn’t in any danger, but it was blocked in by several fire trucks. He would return later and collect it. In the meantime, the center of town was only about twenty minutes away.
    Raoul had grown up in Seattle, gone to college in Oklahoma, and then been drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. He was a big-city kind of guy, enjoying the restaurants, the nightlife, the possibilities. At least he had thought he was. Somewhere along the way, going out all the time had gotten old. He’d wanted to settle down.
    â€œDon’t go there,” he told himself firmly.
    Revisiting the past was a waste of time. What was more important was the future. He’d chosen Fool’s Gold and so far he enjoyed small-town life. Walking nearly everywhere was one of the advantages. So was the lack of traffic. His friends had joked that he wasn’t going to have much of a social life, but since his divorce, he hadn’t been that