Simply Irresistible Read Online Free Page A

at her as if he knew exactly what kind of girl she was. “You’re a tease.”
    Tease was such an ugly word. She thought of herself more as an actress.
    “Why don’t you cut the bullshit and just tell me what you want.”
    “Okay,” she said, changing tactics. “I need a little help, and I need a place to stay for a few days.”
    “Listen,” he sighed, and shifted his weight to one foot. “I’m not the type of man you’re looking for. I can’t help you.”
    “Then why did you tell me you would?”
    His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t answer.
    “Just for a few days,” she pleaded, desperate. She needed time to think of what to do now—now that she’d royally messed up her life. “I won’t be any trouble.”
    “I doubt that,” he scoffed.
    “I need to get in touch with my aunt.”
    “Where’s your aunt?”
    “Back in McKinney,” she answered truthfully, although she didn’t look forward to her conversation with Lolly. Her aunt had been extremely pleased with Georgeanne’s choice in a husband. Even though Lolly had never been so tactless as to come right out and say so, Georgeanne suspected that her aunt envisioned a series of expensive gifts like a big-screen TV and a Craftmatic Adjustable Bed.
    John’s hard stare pinned her for several long moments. “Shit, get in,” he said, and turned to walk around the front of the car. “But as soon as you get in touch with your aunt, I’m dropping you off at the airport or bus depot or wherever the hell else you’re going.”
    Despite his less-than-enthusiastic offer, Georgeanne didn’t waste any time. She jumped back in the car and slammed the door.
    Once John was behind the wheel, he shoved the Corvette into gear, and the car shot back onto the highway. The sound of tires hitting the pavement filled an awkward silence between them—at least it felt awkward to Georgeanne. John didn’t seem bothered by it at all.
    For years she’d attended Miss Virdie Marshall’s School of Ballet, Tap, and Charm. Although she’d never been the most coordinated girl, she’d outshined the others with her ability to charm anyone, anywhere, any time of the day. But this day she had a slight problem. John didn’t seem to like her, which perplexed Georgeanne because men always liked her. From what she’d noticed of him so far, he wasn’t a gentleman either. He used profanity with a frequency bordering on habitual, and he didn’t apologize. The southern men she knew swore, of course, but they usually begged pardon afterward. John didn’t strike her as the type of man to beg pardon for anything.
    She turned to look at his profile and set about charming John Kowalsky. “Are you from Seattle originally?” she asked, determined that he would like her by the time they reached their destination. It would make things so much easier if he did. Because he might not realize it yet, but John was going to offer her a place to stay for a while.
    “No.”
    “Where are you from?”
    “Saskatoon.”
    “Where?”
    “Canada.”
    Her hair blew about her face, and she gathered it all in one hand and held it by the side of her neck. “I’ve never been to Canada.”
    He didn’t comment.
    “How long have you played hockey?” she asked, hoping to drag a little pleasant conversation out of him.
    “All of my life.”
    “How long have you played for the Chinooks?”
    He reached for his sunglasses sitting on the dash and put them on. “A year.”
    “I’ve seen a Stars game,” she said, referring to the Dallas hockey team.
    “Bunch of candy-assed pussies,” he muttered as he unbuttoned the white cuff above his driving hand and folded it up his forearm.
    Not exactly pleasant conversation, she decided. “Did you go to college?”
    “Not really.”
    Georgeanne had no idea what he meant by that. “I went to the University of Texas,” she lied in a effort to impress him into liking her.
    He yawned.
    “I pledged a Kappa,” she added to the lie.
    “Yeah? So?”
    Undaunted with