Free Head Over Heels for the Boss (Donovan Brothers) by Susan Meier Page B

fire hall was only a few yards away from the parking lot, he turned in the direction of his SUV. “I’ll see you on Monday. Can you get yourself back inside okay?”
    “That’s a silly question to ask a grown woman who’s been getting herself places for years.”
    “I was just trying to be polite.”
    She smiled that smile that did crazy things to his insides, and he wished he could change his mind, take her back into the fire hall, and dance. Kiss her senseless.
    The moment stretched out between them. His gaze flicked to her pink lips made soft and sweet looking by some shiny, glossy stuff women used to entice men. In this case, right now, it was really working. Because his chest hurt with the need to kiss her.
    When she said, “What will I tell your family?” he almost laughed. Which was another really cool thing about her. She could make him laugh.
    But he was her boss. And he wouldn’t set his family up for new gossip or threaten their inheritance with a sexual harassment suit, and he most certainly wouldn’t hurt a woman who was sweet and nice and deserved better.
    “Tell them that I’m tired.”
    And suddenly he was tired. Very tired. As the oldest Donovan brother, he’d always had to do the right thing. He’d protected his mother and his brothers. Now he was protecting their peace and quiet. Yet, he didn’t get a share of any of the good things they enjoyed.

Chapter Six
    I sabelle went back into the wedding and found Barbara Beth. She didn’t make her friend ask. She simply said, “We failed. Mission is over. Is the bar making cosmos?”
    “What do you mean we failed?”
    “He took me outside to tell me there could be nothing between us.”
    Barbara Beth’s face fell. “He all but salivated over you while you were dancing.”
    “I know. I think that’s why he told me to back off.”
    BB shook her head. “Now we both need a drink.”
    The bar didn’t serve cosmos. In fact, Jimmy Johnson looked at her as if she’d grown a second head when she asked for one. Barbara Beth ordered a vodka and cranberry juice for both of them. But when she handed the little plastic cup to Isabelle, Isabelle took a quick breath.
    “You know what? I don’t want that. I’m going home. I gave it my best shot. Devon doesn’t want to get involved. He has good reason,” she said, her chest tightening, her whole body suddenly weary. “But I think I need a few hours at home, alone, to have it all sink in so I can be a normal person at work with him on Monday.”
    “Sure, sweetie,” Barbara Beth said sympathetically. “But I think you’re wrong about giving up. Look at tonight like the first round of a fourteen-round boxing match. So you didn’t have a KO tonight? Monday’s another day.”
    “No. Monday things go back to normal.”
    Whatever normal was between a woman who’d never worked for anybody but her dad and a guy so business-oriented he didn’t even want to risk the appearance of impropriety.
    At home, Isabelle slipped out of the shiny pink tank dress, washed the makeup off her face, took the flower out of her hair, and crawled into bed.
    She didn’t cry. She didn’t actually “love” Devon. She was only now getting to know him. If she looked at Barbara Beth’s plan for her, technically she had just been going after something she wanted. It was like when she tried to get into her MBA program. She hadn’t been accepted the first time, so she’d tried again.
    She sat up in bed. Was she telling herself she shouldn’t give up?
    Was Barbara Beth right? Had tonight just been round one of a game that could last as many as fourteen rounds?
    She woke Sunday morning confused, but before she could start thinking about Devon, her phone rang. Seeing her mom’s face pop on the screen, she answered quickly. “Hey, Mom!”
    “Hey, honey. How’s it going?”
    She wanted to admit to her mom that everything was confusing, that she missed her. She missed her dad. She wasn’t sure she was cut out to work for