Free Love Lessons by Kari Lee Harmon Page A

Wussy Wally’s office. Only, Wally wasn’t there. According to his associate, he’d left early to take his new girlfriend to dinner. Girlfriend? My excitement waned a smidgen over drawing the wrong conclusion.
    Because that pretty much ruled out good ole Wally.

 
     
    LESSON TWO
     
    Romance isn’t necessarily music to your ears,
    and love is most definitely not in the air.
    Go figure.
     
    Same time, same place the next day, I received gift number two from my Secret Admirer, with no note again. A CD of my favorite song, oldie but goodie, Love is in the Air, by Australian artist, John Paul Young. I’d been searching for that original 1978 version since forever, but that was pretty much his only worldwide hit, and I’d never been able to find the CD.
    Apparently m y Secret Admirer had some pull.
    I clutched the CD to my chest. Who would know how much finding this CD meant to me? My mind whirled like numbers on an adding machine. I sucked in a breath as the answer hit me hard. I knew who my admirer was. My heart thumped hard as I ran out of my room, down the hall, around the corner and into another classroom.
    “Oh my gosh, Gavin, look!” I thrust out my hand holding the CD and tapping the highlighted song with my manicured nail.
    He studied the cover and then raised dark eyes to mine. “Love is in the Air. Cool. Haven’t you been looking for that since I’ve known you?”
    My smile came slow and sweet, and I wagged my brows. “That’s right. And now I know exactly who my Secret Admirer is.”
    His eyes widened and he stopped tipping back in his seat, lowering the wooden chair legs to the floor. “You do?”
    “Well, sure. It has to be someone who knows me really well.”
    “I agree.” He grinned, the cleft in his chin sinking deeper. “Glad you finally figured it out because you were starting to exhaust me.”
    “Oh, we’re not done yet.”
    “Yeah?” He unfolded his long body from his chair, straightened to his full height of six-foot-four, and took a step toward me.
    I patted his leather-vest covered chest. “I need you, you know that.”
    He covered my hand with his own and gave it a little squeeze. “I need you, too, babe.”
    Of course he did. He always needed my help with something because he knew I couldn’t refuse him anything. Except traveling to Egypt, that is. “All right, fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll help you in a minute--so long as it’s not another scavenger hunt--but first you have to help me.”
    His eyes seemed to lose a bit of their shine, and he dropped his hand. “I didn’t mean... never mind. Help with what?” he asked, sounding weary. That was a first. Gavin Malone was never weary, or tired, or slow at, well, anything. He usually steam-rolled ahead on the Malone Express. I’d have to make sure he took time out to rest, just as soon as he helped me put the mystery of who my secret admirer was to bed, literally.
    I grabbed his arm and pulled him after me. “Help me with thanking Perry for giving me the CD, silly. I need you to drive me.”
    Gavin dug in his heels, pulling me to a jarring stop, then he gaped at me. “Pansy Perry down at Perry’s Entertainment Emporium? You’ve got to be shitting me.”
    “No I’m not shitting you, as vulgar as that sounds. Since I pretty much live at the Emporium when I’m not at work, I’d say Perry knows me very well. He knows I’ve been searching that store for years, and I wouldn’t call Perry a pansy.” I crossed my arms. “In fact, I wouldn’t call anyone a pansy. It’s not very nice.”
    Gavin leaned in close and poked me in the chest just below my collarbone. “He’s a purebred pansy, through and through, and you know it.”
    “Just because he’s into fashion and has a knack for decorating, unlike someone else I know,” I poked him right back, “doesn’t mean he’s a pansy.” Chewing my bottom lip, I paused for a minute, snatched the keys to Gavin’s jeep that were dangling out of his pants pocket, and