Read Online Jane and Austen by Stephanie Fowers - Free Book Online Page A

to see reason. He was the one who had gotten me into this mess, and he could get me out of it.
    My feet pounded down the stairs and through the hallway. I flung open the door, knowing my entrance resembled more Ann-Marie’s usual style than mine. “Austen. Austen! Austen!” I kept my voice to a harsh whisper.
    Austen looked up from his books, this time with interest. I knew I looked crazy right now, but I didn’t care. I raced to the counter and flattened against it, only inches from his face. “I need you!”
    “I thought you said . . .”
    “Not like that. Austen, the Captain is here!”
    “The Captain?”
    “Redd!”
    “He’s a captain now?” His voice lost interest.
    “Yeah, he was promoted. That happens in the navy sometimes. You have got to pretend that you and I have something going on, so I don’t look like a total loser.” My eyes raced to the door between us and the lounge. It stood as a barrier between me and the captain’s potential new girlfriend—I was sure of it. Even if I didn’t like Redd, I had rejected him, and if he knew that I was single and still available, well, then he’d rub it in my face and win. Sort of. Well, he would see it that way, and it killed me.
    Austen punched numbers steadily into his laptop. I put my hand in front of the screen. “You’re the one who talked me out of liking him!” I said.
    He snorted. “No, that was you.”
    “Was it?”
    Austen peeled my hand away from his screen. “You do have a mind of your own sometimes.”
    Yeah, I did, but I really thought that Austen hadn’t thought that much of him, either—maybe because I had always misinterpreted everything Austen did back then. When Austen said Redd was a little off, that meant that Austen wanted to get together with me. Well, it didn’t matter how wrong I was. I had looked for any excuse to drop the guy after I’d discovered he liked me, and when Redd proved to be such a poor loser afterwards, I was even gladder that I got out of dating him.
    “Fine,” I said. “It was me. I’m to blame. Can you do me the favor anyway?”
    “No.”
    “What? Why?” I hated that my voice came out a whine.
    His eyes danced mischievously at me. “You’re mad at me. Remember? You’re not even supposed to be speaking to me.”
    “Can we just put a hold on that for a bit?” Yes, I was throwing my self-respect out the window. It usually happened in situations like these. “You could at least pretend to be my boyfriend.”
    “Not a chance.” He snickered. “This is going to be a lot of fun to watch.”
    I should’ve known he wouldn’t play the knight errant. It wasn’t Austen’s style, and still . . . “I would totally do it for you!”
    He laughed. “I know.”
    I really, really hated him right now. He checked out my face and laughed again. “Careful, you might spontaneously combust.”
    I changed tactics. “I’ll pay you to do it!”
    “How?” Now he looked interested. “You don’t have a life savings—you just said you didn’t.”
    I flinched, but before he could take any of his mean words back, I stormed to the door to the Allenham Lounge and ripped it open.
    Captain Redd Wortham leaned against the fireplace, staring into it. The flames crackled and spit. The glow of it painted his cheeks gold. It was a dashing look with his intense eyes and his cropped, dark hair—it had red highlights like his name. Soft piano music, courtesy of Ann-Marie, played in the background. I listened to Taylor’s merry conversation. She talked, of all things, about the weather to her cousin and her husband.
    Since no one was aware I had come in, I studied the little group while they chatted and chuckled together. Reverend Eddy and Elly McFarey were a young, stylish couple, whose heads nodded in unison. Elly, Taylor’s cousin, was, in a word, adorable. She had apple-red cheeks on an otherwise pale face and wore a colorful scarf and a short skirt with boots. Her vibrant red hair was her crowning glory. Her