Read Online When Lightning Strikes by Brenda Novak - Free Book Online

O’Neal’s life, not
all of whom were particularly reliable. Rumor had it that the one nanny Simon
had loved most had gone to prison for embezzlement.
    “I’m sorry.” Her cheeks burned as she gaped at him.
    He glared back. “I’m not going anywhere close to your family,”
he said, and got up and walked out.
    “Simon, you okay?” Ian’s expression filled with so much concern
that Gail was tempted to believe he really cared about his employer, beyond just
the paycheck, but Simon didn’t respond.
    “Did you have to go that far?” He turned to face her once it
was clear that Simon wasn’t coming back.
    She was so busy kicking herself she didn’t need him to pile on,
too, but she couldn’t blame him. “I didn’t mean it. I—I’m overwrought. Couldn’t
sleep a wink last night. Other than that, I have no excuse.”
    “You’re in the public-relations business, damn it!”
    “I wish I could take it back.” She honestly hadn’t meant to
hurt Simon, hadn’t realized she could. He seemed so…impervious. Still, she
prided herself on using restraint and diplomacy especially in difficult
situations. What had gotten into her?
    Sinking onto the sofa, she tilted some of the ice left in
Simon’s glass into her mouth. She’d turned him down when he’d offered her a
drink, but she shouldn’t have. She needed something to relieve her dry throat,
and she was rattled enough not to care where she got it.
    “For what it’s worth, he’s going through hell,” Ian said.
    She set the glass, now empty, back on the table. “You’ve
mentioned that. But he’s not the only one, okay? I don’t like this any more than
he does.”
    “Of course you don’t.” He made a noticeable effort to calm
down. “You’re out of your comfort zone, and that’s understandable. But…can’t
you…I don’t know…put out for him once in a while? Just to help him stay on the
straight and narrow? I bet he’d agree to meet your dad if you do.”
    She smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Tell me
you’re kidding.”
    “No! Come on, what would it hurt? You’ll be married so it won’t
be illegal or immoral. Even Mother Teresa couldn’t
object.”
    When she didn’t respond, he seemed encouraged.
    “It might be something you’d enjoy,” he added. “He could loosen
you up. Teach you a few things. If this marriage is going to work, he’ll need an
outlet.”
    “I am not going to become his
blow-up doll.” Something to be used and tossed away when he was done, something
that would never mean anything to him. She had to live with herself when this
was over.
    “Forget it. I shouldn’t have brought the subject up again.” He
shrugged. “Time will take care of it.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You’ll see. You’re going to want it as bad as he does. I mean,
you’ve got to have some physical desires of your
own. You’re what, thirtyish? And not bad-looking. A bit pale, maybe, but if you
were to forget the business suits, let your hair down and laugh once in a while,
you could get laid.”
    She held up a hand in the classic stop position. “Please, don’t
try to cheer me up.”
    “Just my two cents,” he said with an attitude that indicated he
was as obtuse on this as he sounded.
    “Could you shut up for a second, please? I need to think.”
    He shoved his hands in his pockets while she tried to sort out
her thoughts and feelings, but silence didn’t offer the clarity she’d hoped for.
She kept coming back to two things. She couldn’t bear to cast her employees
aside. And she couldn’t return home in defeat. Whether she liked it or not, that
left her with only one option—to ignore her frustration and unhappiness and
marry Simon.
    But the second she said, “I do,” she’d step into the spotlight
that followed him mercilessly and attract far more attention than she’d ever
feel comfortable with. And if Simon refused to make an appearance in Whiskey
Creek, her father would be positive that