Have Bouquet, Need Boyfriend Read Online Free Page A

darlin’.”

    Rebecca sniffed as she accepted her uncle’s handkerchief and swiped at
    her nose.

    “That would be great, Mr. Hartwell.” Thomas cast another look at
    Rebecca, grateful she’d stopped crying. What had she expected him to do?
    Turn into a tyrant because she’d totaled his car?

    Rebecca dabbed at her eyes with her uncle’s hankie. How could she have
    done such a stupid thing?

    And how could Thomas stand there so calmly when she had destroyed what
    must have been his dream car, a Porsche that cost more money than she
    earned in two years. Men usually obsessed about their automobiles. They
    worshipped them more than their women, more than the remote control.

    Worse, now her insurance would skyrocket, she’d probably have to take a
    second job to pay her bills, and everyone in town would talk about her
    klutzy ways, just as they had in high school years ago.

    Thunder rumbled above, the darkening sky hinting at a winter storm. Rain
    began to drizzle and chaos erupted, everyone suddenly racing for the house.

    Grammy Rose hugged her one more time. “Don’t fret, everything will work
    out all right. At least the hope chest wasn’t damaged.”

    Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek. Great. She had a hope chest but no
    man. And the only man she’d wanted since her dating disasters in high
    school was

    standing beside her, his car crunched like a tin can because she lost
    control of her senses every time he was near.

    For all she knew, the crash could have broken some of the things in her
    chest, too. She was too afraid to look.

    Lightning streaked through the cluster of pine trees, another clap of
    thunder booming closer. “I’ll make sure the tow truck picks up the car,”
    Wiley offered. “Bee, you wanna give the doc a ride back to town?”

    Rebecca’s face blanched.

    “Good idea,” Thomas said with a grin. “You don’t mind taking me home, do
    you?”

    Rebecca gaped at him in surprise. She couldn’t very well turn him down
    when she was responsible for his dilemma.

    “I…sure.”

    Thomas pointed inside the station wagon. “It looks like some of your
    stuff spilled out. We’d better put it back before we go.”

    The bride’s book lay on the floor, a blue garter belt beside it.

    “No, it’s all right.” She pushed Thomas toward the car. “Let’s go before
    the storm gets any worse.”

    And I do anything else stupid. Rebecca ran to the other side and jumped
    in. Thomas took the passenger seat, buckled his seat belt, then
    stretched his left arm along the back of the seat, calm as a cucumber.

    Darn him.

    Rebecca glanced at her clenched hands, then slowly met his gaze. “I’m
    surprised you’d want to ride with me. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you on
    the way home?”

    Thomas chuckled. Hell, yeah he was, but he couldn’t admit it without
    seeming like a coward. “No,

    of course not.” He shifted, but the broken springs from the tattered
    seat protested, then jabbed him in the behind. Rebecca glanced his way
    and nearly ran off the road.

    The deep drop-off on his side swam before his eyes. “Rebecca!”

    She snapped her eyes back to the highway, her mouth dropping open as she
    jerked the wheel to the left.

    “Are you sure you’re all right? I could drive if you’re feeling dizzy
    from the accident.”

    She pursed her lips. “No, I’m f-fine.”

    Rain splattered the windshield, and the car windows fogged up, cocooning
    the two of them inside the vehicle. He wondered if Rebecca had bought
    this jalopy from her uncle; if so, he hoped Wiley had cut her a good
    deal. It wasn’t worth a dime.

    Was she was always this nervous around men or did her reaction have
    something to do with him? He’d seen her conversing with customers in the
    bookstore. She handled herself with grace, her knowledge about the book
    market extraordinary. And she laughed and joked with her cousins as if
    she were perfectly at ease.

    Maybe she just didn’t find him attractive. The