Free [4 Seasons 01] Seducing Summer by Serenity Woods Page A

won’t get to see much of the
city in one day, but even the road in is gorgeous.”
    Her eyes were alight with excitement, and
warmth spread through him at her enthusiasm. She had such a ready smile. It had
upset him when she’d talked about her ex and had gotten all emotional. He
hadn’t found out as much as he’d hoped because he’d distracted her by talking
about himself. Did she still see the guy? Did she still have feelings for him?
He wanted to know, but now wasn’t the time to bring it up.
    He also found it strange that she seemed so
unaffected by the fact that she’d had death threats. Clearly, she hadn’t taken
them seriously, and that wasn’t good, because it meant she might take
unnecessary risks and put herself in danger. He would have to work hard to
ensure that didn’t happen.
    “So what’s the plan?” Callie asked.
    Becky had stated on her instructions that
he would have to arrange their itinerary, because otherwise Callie wouldn’t
allow them enough time to get from one appointment to another, and she’d forget
about lunch, and then suddenly realize they didn’t have a hotel room booked for
the night.
    He glanced at the clock on the dashboard.
“It’s nearly eleven thirty. We’ll head straight to the first appointment with
Hollywell’s at twelve. You said each one will probably take around thirty
minutes, but I’ve allowed plenty of time so you don’t get stressed if one runs
over. After Hollywell’s, we’ll probably catch some lunch, then go to Fernz for
appointment number two at two thirty. We can check in at the hotel and leave
our bags there afterward, and head off for Lingerie Plus at three thirty. Onto
JimJam’s at four thirty. Then we’re done, so we can return to the hotel for the
evening.”
    “Wow. I’m impressed.”
    “Army life,” he said. “Forces you to get
organized.”
    “Forces. Nice pun.” She grinned.
    He smiled. They were in the city center
now. Following the GPS, he took the road to the first high street store, turned
off the State Highway into Stuart Street, and headed for the Octagon. “Well, I
hope I’ve planned it all okay.”
    “Gene, whatever happens, you’ll have done a
hundred times better than I would have done.”
    “Why are you so disorganized?”
    “I’ve worked very hard to maintain this
level of incompetence, I’ll have you know.”
    “It makes things much easier when
everything’s in order.”
    “Sir, yes sir.” She saluted him.
    He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
    She turned her gaze out of the window. “I
don’t like having my life planned out. Where’s the fun in that?”
    “So what would you have done if we’d landed
here and you’d forgotten to book a car?”
    “One of the firms would have had a spare
one somewhere.”
    “And if they hadn’t?”
    “I’d have gotten a taxi. Or hitched. Come
on, don’t you think there’s some excitement in not knowing what’s going to
happen?” She turned her bright gaze back to him.
    “I don’t know. There’s not a lot of room
for impulsiveness in my world.” That was an understatement, to say the least.
Being in the Army and then working in security meant that his life had revolved
around timetables and structure for longer than he cared to remember. In his
world, trains always ran on time, meetings occurred dead on the hour, and he
was never, ever late. And he liked it that way. Not knowing what was going to
happen made him uneasy and edgy.
    “How dull.” Her lips twitched.
    “I am dull. Very boring and predictable.”
He turned into Princes Street and began looking for the store.
    “Hmm. We’ll have to see what we can do to
loosen you up.”
    He glanced across at her. The look in her
eyes sent a shiver running down his back as if she’d dropped an ice cube there.
    “Don’t even think about it,” he warned
before he could think better of it. As soon as the words were out of his mouth,
he realized he’d opened a can of very wriggly worms.
    Her smile widened. “Is