Read Online Seducing Steve by Maggie Wells - Free Book Online Page B

stirred memories.
    They’d never had good timing. She met him just two months after she married Adam. She was newly married, finishing her last semester of college, and working part-time as a receptionist for the company Adam’s father had founded. She was also completely oblivious to all she might be missing in her life.
    Still, she took up residence at a tiny table in her favorite coffee shop, certain she was living a fairy tale. Her first novel had been published six months before. Her second was nearing publication, and she was revising her third. All she needed to do was get her hero and heroine over one teeny, tiny, seemingly insurmountable hurdle, and everyone would live happily ever after.
    She was scribbling in her notebook when the flood came.
    “Oh God! I’m so sorry,” a man said in a rush.
    She yelped and pushed her chair back, clutching the notebook to her chest. Coffee pooled on her table and she glared at the tall man with the dark red hair who had attempted assault with a hot beverage.
    “Are you okay? Are you burnt?” he asked.
    There may have been a sharp remark on the tip of her tongue, but the sincerity in his voice killed the impulse. She checked her notebook for damage while he placed the cup holding the balance of his beverage on the edge of her table and lunged for the nearest napkin dispenser. “I’m fine,” she replied coolly.
    “I’m not usually so klutzy.” He piled napkins onto the expanding pool of brown liquid. “I’m glad I didn’t burn you.”
    Sara smirked. “Yes, I hear coffee is hot.”
    “So the courts say.” Still trying to corral and absorb the spill, he muttered, “I was living dangerously. I didn’t heed the warnings and ditched the lid.”
    “So now you know you’re not just a danger to yourself but others too.”
    His brown eyes widened as he looked right into hers. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Ma’am?” she scoffed, affronted.
    “Sorry, automatic response to being chastised,” he said while he collected the sodden napkins. “Are you going to sue me?”
    She cocked her head, homing in on the slight lilt in his voice. “Are you from the South?”
    “ Virginia .”
    He cupped one large hand under the dripping mess and carried the saturated bundle of paper to the nearest trash bin to dump it. Sara watched him pluck more napkins from the dispenser and move back to her table.
    When he finished cleaning the table, he paused to glance at her again. Recognition spawned a smile that flashed stunningly white teeth. “Hey, you work at Fairbanks, right?”
    “How do you know that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
    “I spent the better part of last week there reconfiguring your network.”
    It took a minute to click. “Oh, you’re the computer guy.”
    Burnished copper eyebrows rose. “Yes, that’s me. ‘ The ’ is a family name. My parents were traditionalists.”
    A blush warmed her cheeks. “I’m sorry; I don’t remember your name.”
    He extended his hand to her with a smile. “When I’m not answering to ‘The Computer Guy’, I’m Steve Larson.”
    “Sara Wright,” she replied, taking hold of his sticky hand and automatically responding to the openness of his smile. “What’s a guy from Virginia doing up here in the frozen tundra? Don’t you get The Weather Channel down there?”
    “Sometimes the signal comes in if Mr. McBeevey is wearin’ his silver hat and Aunt Bea hasn’t hung the washin’ out,” he said, grossly exaggerating his drawl.
    When he smiled again, Sara couldn’t help but mirror it with one of her own. “I meant... the winters up here are bad,” she said, knowing it sounded lame.
    “My daddy went to Dunforth College ,” he explained, naming the prestigious private university in a nearby suburb. “And my daddy’s daddy before him.” His voice gentled, rolling over the words in a manner that only enhanced his charm. “I’m a rebel at heart. I took a shine to the place, so I stayed.”
    Their eyes locked,