Free The Heart Heist by Alyssa Kress Page A

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    Kerrin's face fell. This was the worst part. He would only have four days to prepare -- and she knew he had other things he was supposed to be doing. "Monday."
    But all he did was sigh, as though this was exactly what he'd expected. "Monday," he repeated. "Right."
    ~~~
    Matt watched his sister disappear up Miner's Creek with that man in tow. It had taken all of his considerable skill with the wheelchair to avoid her for the past two hours, but it had been worth it. Hot damn. Now she was going to have to hire him.
    Matt had known the man was the one she'd gone to meet in Bishop and L.A. the moment he'd seen the two of them looking at each other down the parade route. Hell, the whole world had seen the way they'd looked at each other. The air, hot as it already was, had sizzled. Matt hadn't seen that kind of repressed passion off a movie screen, and to think this was his crazy old maid sister -- with a man like that! A real one this time, not like that wuss, Victor Bothmann, from last winter.
    The man Matt had seen his sister lead by the hand up Miner's Creek was absolutely perfect for her. He was good looking, had a great body, and at a glance one could see he had the kind of character -- a strong one -- that could handle his sister's bouts of kookiness.
    "Hey, Matt, how's it going?"
    The young female voice brought Matt's head around in surprise. When he saw Cheryl Bloch standing just a few feet from him, his surprise expanded to downright shock. Up until one second ago, Matt was sure Cheryl hadn't known he was alive. She was dressed in a pair of extremely short cut-off jeans and her generous breasts were hugged by a clinging tank top that left little to the imagination, including the location of her hard, pert nipples. Blond hair the color of the sun fell in a soft wave over her shoulders. She was giving him one mankiller smile.
    Matt swallowed. Desperately, for the sake of not appearing like an idiot, he attempted to quash the hours of useless fantasies he'd spun around Cheryl Bloch and those big soft breasts of hers. "It's goin' fine, Cheryl. What about you?" How was that for brilliant conversation? And Matt thought Kerrin was a hopeless case.
    Cheryl turned and nodded in the direction Matt's sister and the man had taken. "Say, have you met the summer school teacher yet?"
    Matt caught the wanting gleam in the girl's eye with crushing disappointment. Ah, now he understood her sudden interest in his existence. "I didn't think you were going to go to summer school," Matt pointed out, at the risk of revealing how much he'd researched into Cheryl's affairs.
    Turning a lock of sun gold hair around a finger, Cheryl released a deeply tormented sigh. "I wasn't going to. I was planning to spend a month at my friend's house in Santa Monica, beaching it every day. That would have been cool, but then my mom said no way." Cheryl rolled her eyes. "She was worried about men ." The way Cheryl pronounced the word left no doubt but that her mother's concern was with just cause.
    "That's a bummer," Matt politely agreed, then zeroed in on the information he wanted. "So, are you going to summer school?" His own views on attending the summer session were undergoing a rapid reversal. From a vantage point inside the classroom he'd be able to monitor and make any necessary adjustments to the relationship his sister was sure to try her best to mess up. And if Cheryl Bloch was going to be there too...?
    "Oh, I guess so," Cheryl pouted, twirling the next lock of hair onto her finger. "Though it's really a drag, don't you think?"
    It was occurring to Matt that Cheryl's conversation lacked as much brilliance as his own.
    "Oh!" She suddenly squealed, catching sight of Rob Bollonoff, reputed to become next year's football captain. With a very brief noise of farewell, she was off.
    From his wheelchair, Matt watched as Rob absently threw an arm about Cheryl's waist. Even if Cheryl would have let him, Matt couldn't have managed such a seemingly simple