Free And Then He Kissed Me by Teresa Southwick Page A

paycheck by five dollars a week for the next two years?”
    â€œIf I could spare that five dollars, it would make me feel a lot better. But I can’t, Nick.”
    â€œThen consider it a bonus for my most valued employee.”
    â€œI don’t take charity.”
    He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Excuse me? When did you stop working?”
    â€œI haven’t. But what does that have to do with anything?”
    â€œEmployee bonuses are a common business practice. Happy workers are productive workers. Charity is a handout.”

    â€œYou’re making that up, or at the very least stretching the facts.”
    â€œI’m not. Scout’s honor,” he said, holding his hand up, palm out. “In fact, you would be doing us a favor. The place doesn’t get used much anymore.” He was making that up. “Someone needs to go up and check that the roof hasn’t fallen in and the plumbing still plumbs.”
    â€œReally?” She didn’t look completely convinced, but she was weakening.
    â€œYeah,” he said confidently.
    â€œIf you’re sure, it would be a lifesaver. Sarah really wants to go on the trip. And I’d feel a lot better if I was close by.”
    â€œConsider it done.”
    â€œThanks, Nick. I really appreciate it. I’ll call Sarah in a few minutes. She’ll be so excited. The bus should have let her off at home by then.”
    He wondered if he should tell her about Sarah’s actual transportation indiscretion. He decided against it, but made a mental note that during his next conversation with the teenager in question, he would make her promise to fess up. Since he had a feeling the schedule of a teenage driver might allow for more side trips than public transportation, he didn’t want Abby to find that Sarah wasn’t home yet. Big sister would worry.
    He thought of the perfect way to distract her. The beauty was that it was reason number two for his visit.
    â€œSo, now can we talk about what almost happened at the party?”

Chapter Five
    â€œW hat would that be?” Abby asked.
    â€œVery funny, pal. I think you know very well what that would be,” he said.
    Her heartbeat went from normal to off the scale in a split second. She did know all too well what he meant. The exact moment when he almost kissed her. Since intimate encounters for her were nonexistent, creating a long lonely dry spell, near-kisses tended to stand out. Which, she rationalized, was exactly the reason she’d thought of little else since that night.
    But she would rather have walked barefoot on hot coals than tell him as much. He’d been good to her and Sarah. Case in point: his offer of the family cabin so she could keep a watchful yet distant eye on her sister. That was above and beyond the call of duty for a boss.
    What he wanted to talk about was the kiss that never was. More important—it never could be. Things might be different if she had the time, but she didn’t. Not
right now. And, if there was a God, eagle-eye Marchetti would not notice the blush that had crept into her cheeks when he’d mentioned the party. No way did she want to talk about that night. It would be too easy for the information to slip out that she had wanted him to kiss her.
    So badly it had taken a very long time for the ache to go away.
    When she continued to make herself stare at him blankly, he stopped leaning casually in the doorway and moved toward her like a determined predator stalking his prey. He passed through the invisible wall of her comfort zone, then had the nerve to sit on the corner of her desk. It was a blatantly masculine pose that tweaked every feminine response within her. She reminded herself again that his charm didn’t affect her. Never had; never would.
    One of his dark eyebrows lifted. “You’re putting me on. You don’t know what almost happened?”
    â€œYou mean at Sarah’s