Read Online Courting the Clown by Cathy Quinn - Free Book Online Page B

his eyes. Emily was his daughter, no doubt about it. This man was just as frightening as his daughter – and probably an even worse risk to her sanity.
    “R&R? Well -- no.” She crossed her arms on her chest, leaned back, and gave him the kind of look she really ought to have given his daughter the other day. “Of course, strictly speaking, that isn’t the name of the store, is it?”
    “It’s what we call it at the office,” Nick said.
    “ If you’d said Robots and Ragdolls , I’d have caught on. I do have to buy presents for kids occasionally, and this is the best toy store in town after all.”
    “Sorry. About not warning you.” He didn’t look very sorry. Glee was still shimmering like glitter in his eyes. “I couldn’t help myself. Besides, I was afraid you’d turn me down if I told you the truth. But it’s not that bad, is it? I trust nobody has shoved fake snow up your nose, or tied you to the piano so they could stage a tribal war dance around you?”
    “No,” she admitted grudgingly. “Not yet, at least. Of course, it’s early days yet.”
    “Good. And how’s that comfort zone of yours? Expanding any yet?”
    “ So that’s your excuse, is it? You’re helping !” Her fingers slashed quotations marks in the air, and she stared at him with disgust. Was the entire world collaborating with her evil cousins?
    Nick ate his sandwich and just grinned at her. She sighed. “I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d think this was all my cousins’ doing. They didn’t hire you, did they?”
    He chuckled. “No. It was all my own doing. But if you want to give them my phone number...”
    Nope. She didn’t want to give any female Nick’s phone number. And she didn’t want to dwell too much on what that meant, either. “It’s just for the holiday season,” she told him. “This job, I mean. I wouldn’t feel right about taking your money longer than that. Not when what you’re really paying me for is that birthday party. I’m sure I’ll be able to find more temp jobs after the holidays, and then you can hire someone at more reasonable wages.”
    Nick shrugged. “No problem. It’s up to you. Keep the job as long as you need it. The salary isn’t really that extravagant. I’m paying my assistant more than that, and she never lets up dropping hints about a raise.”
    “When should I be there? For the birthday party, I mean?”
    “Maybe around four – that okay with you? You only have to stay an hour or so. Four okay?”
    She nodded reluctantly. “I suppose. Better get it over with.”
    “Do you have a car? I can send someone for you if you don’t.”
    “No problem, I have a car. I just hope I’ll be fit to drive back home afterwards. How many kids will be there?”
    “Uh..... Six. Six...ish.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Six-ish?”
    “Actually, I don’t know. I’ll do my best to keep the numbers down, but it’s a bit tricky.”
    “How tricky can it get?”
    “I told Emily she could invite her ‘bestest’ friend from the neighborhood to her sister’s birthday party. She ran off to play in the backyard, some kids joined her, and when she got back, she told me she had four ‘bestest’ friends and they were all coming. And then there are Lana’s friends. We haven’t talked to them yet.”
    A smile was trembling at the corner of her lips at the tug-of-war between affection and exasperation in Nick’s voice. She could imagine Emily kept him very busy. “So, six kids so far, and you haven’t even invited anyone yet?”
    “That’s right. I’m sorry. They’ll behave themselves, I promise.”
    “They better. I’ll be having anxiety attacks for a year.”
    Nick looked guilty. “That bad?”
    “I’ll live. How’s Lana doing?”
    “Fine.” Nick smiled. “She’s really looking forward to her birthday. She wants pink paper plates with princess pictures and a polka-dot cake.”
    Sylvie groaned. “No. Not more polka dots. And what is it about little girls and the color