Against Her Odds: when dedication meets desire Read Free

want something other than hot
sex and homemade pie?”
    Val glanced around to make sure that none
of the anchors could hear her. “I’m not discounting the wonders of sex or pie.
But you know how I feel about relationships.”
    “You’re going to give Cason McDaniel the
talk? Don’t you ever learn?”
    “Hey,” Valerie said indignantly. “If they
run at the talk, then they aren’t worth my time anyway.”
    “So, what are you going to wear?” Becky
asked, leaning forward eagerly. “You gonna let me fix up your hair for you?”
    Val raised a hand to her fine blonde hair.
“When are you going to realize that nothing works? You curled it for my date
with Jim a few months ago and my hair was straight as a stick before dessert. I
felt like an idiot.”
    “Yeah, but I got this new ceramic curling
iron. It’s got some kind of ionic technology.” Becky gestured at her long
locks. “The proof is right here.”
    “Your hair is wavy anyway.” Val frowned at
Becky’s thick, shiny curls.
    “Okay, okay,” her friend said. “Don’t get
upset about it.”
     
    “I’m not.” Realizing what her face must
have looked like, she sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m still thinking about last night.”
    “The anchor desk?” Becky asked
sympathetically.
    Val sighed again and rested her chin on her
hand. “People get delayed at the airport all the time. Why couldn’t it happen
to Steven?”
    “Keep your chin up, okay? It’s going to
happen.”
    Valerie forced a smile that she didn’t feel
and allowed Becky to direct the conversation elsewhere. It was better than
thinking about the chili cook off she had to go and cover later. She’d been so
excited to finally have her chance behind the desk that her heart had felt like
it had fallen through the soles of her shoes when Steven rushed in with barely
two minutes to spare, straightened his tie and slid into his desk chair,
leaving her standing to the side trying not to look the way she felt. Or grab
Steven by his fancy tie and strangle him.
    “Great!” the station manager had sighed in
relief. “Okay, Val, head on home. You won’t have to stay after all.”
    “Sure thing,” she’d said, trying to be
cheerful even as she swallowed back her annoyance in an attempt to remain
professional. “You know that I’m always ready to--”
    “Quiet! Action!” one of the grips shouted,
and she’d left as fast as she could.
    It hadn’t been a good day yesterday, and
she was still feeling the sting. She found herself replaying her conversation
with Cason once more. What was she going to wear tonight?

Chapter Four
     
    Val opened the door promptly and ushered
Cason into her apartment. “Right on time.”
    “I figured you’d be the type to appreciate
things like that,” he said with a smile.
    “You wouldn’t be wrong.” It was actually
one of her biggest pet peeves. If she could be on time, everyone else could to.
She’d spent countless hours of her life waiting for her dad to show up only to
have him rush in late or not at all. She made it a point to always, always,
call if she was detained by work. “Come on in.”
    “You did a good job with this place. I like
the art.”
    She followed his gaze around the room,
looking at the place through his eyes. She wasn’t allowed to paint the walls
since it was a rental, so she’d made do by hanging a lot of art prints that
she’d bought at various museums.
    She had a Monet over the couch, a Van Gogh
in the kitchen, and several smaller paintings by Degas scattered about both
rooms. She loved his dancers. They gave a sense of movement to rooms that might
have felt cramped otherwise.
    Val saw his gaze drift to the scant amount
of furniture and her small television and she prepared to defend herself as
“non-materialistic.” Instead she saw his lips tilt into a grin.
    “Eclectic decorating style, huh Blondie?”
    “Blondie?” she asked in surprise.
    “‘Fraid so,” Cason said. “I give everybody
nicknames.”
    “I guess