Not Exactly Pregnant & Darn Near Perfect by CHARLOTTE MACLAY

Author:CHARLOTTE MACLAY
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

2

MICHAEL DREW in a deep breath, bit back yet another curse, and blew up the twenty-third big, bright balloon in a pack of twenty-five. Two more after this. Only two more balloons to go and he’d be done. He shot a quick glance across the room at Casey, who was talking to some of the seniors. Of course she’d put him in charge of the party decorations. Especially balloons. She obviously thought he had hot air to spare.

“Your face is almost as red as that balloon.”

Michael glanced at the older man who had come to stand next to him. “Yeah, I’m afraid I’m going to collapse a lung,” Michael said.

The man chuckled. “I’m the birthday boy, Al Terford.” Idly, he pushed some of the balloons across the table. A few tumbled with drunken abandon onto the floor. “Balloons. Now there’s an odd touch. What are you going to do with these when you’re done?”

Michael froze, some little internal gizmo dinging crazily inside his head. He turned and nailed Al with a direct gaze. “Don’t you usually have balloons at these parties?”

Al chuckled again. “Well, no. We’re kind of old for balloons. But I appreciate the gesture.”

Michael looked at the balloon in his hands, replaying his conversation with Casey through his mind. She’d told him to put out the things for the party, indicated the cabinet where the supplies were stored, and explained he’d find everything he needed inside. And he had. On the top shelf, he’d found cups, plates and napkins.

Then two shelves down…balloons.

Ah, hell. Glancing up, he caught Casey looking his direction. She’d watched him blow up all these balloons and make an idiot of himself in front of the seniors. He should be mad. Furious, in fact.

But he wasn’t. Instead, he found himself half admiring her. Okay, the lady was quickly becoming a personal pain in the butt to him. Still, he’d been at the center for what? Less than an hour. And the woman had already bested him. Twice.

The next couple of weeks should prove very interesting.

“You have to watch the women around here,” Al pointed out. “They’re sharp, so you have to be sharper.”

With those words, the older man patted Michael’s shoulder then wandered over to the table where Casey was lighting candles on a cake. Well, damn. When he finished knotting the last balloon, he settled back to watch the celebration. All of the seniors were having a great time. Casey was having a great time, too. Michael watched, fascinated, as she kidded around with the group. She really fit in here, but he couldn’t help wondering why she wasn’t working at a big company, making big bucks.

“Having fun?” Casey asked when she finally wandered over in his direction.

“I enjoyed blowing up all those balloons. Thanks.”

Casey laughed. It was a teasing, light sound that ran across his skin like a touch. “Sorry. But I didn’t tell you to do it. We used those balloons at our booth at the children’s fair last September. I never thought you’d dig them out, but they do add a festive air.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.