Finding The One (Meadowview Heroes 1; The Meadowview Series 5) Read Free Page A

having an allergy to relationships, but her sister didn’t understand her need to avoid men who wanted unconditional love and babies and stuff. Casual sex and serious dating were both fine, but full-on relationships—those kind with the mutual understanding that marriage would inevitably be discussed? Yeah, not so much. Once she’d dreamed of a husband, babies, and a white picket fence, but those dreams had flat lined four years ago. Removed along with her fertility bits.
    She gave herself a mental shake. She couldn’t be distracted right now. This contract with Gregor was too important.
    But then movement caught her attention, and she realized Sexy Dude was coming down the stairs. They connected gazes again, and an uncontrollable rush of flutters dashed about in her belly and thoughts of her negative bank account dipped out of her mind.
    But then the man pointed to her chest, smiled broadly, and mouthed the word “grape.”
    Heat flashed over her skin, instantly mottling it red like some sort of color-changing octopus. Oh, God. He knew where that damned grape had landed.
    And he was laughing at her.
    The flutter in her tummy squeezed, and not in a good way. How mortifying. Here she thought a guy who could rival Michelangelo’s David was coming on to her, only apparently he thought she was the joke of the night.
    Memories of the on-line comments about her body flooded her mind. No way, no how. She would not be humiliated again. Ever. She cut off eye contact and whirled around, her vertebrae snapping into a stiff iron core. She didn’t have time to get laid, anyway.
    Not when her whole future was at stake. She needed to locate Gregor Johansson immediately, and put that obnoxious Greek god out of her mind—permanently.
    Yeah, right. Like that was gonna happen. Sighing, she turned and scanned the crowd, looking for the silver-haired man she hoped would be her new boss.

M ac snagged a flute of champagne from a passing waiter as he headed over to where he’d last seen Red Hot, who had scurried away. How adorable was it that she’d ended up with a grape accidentally caught between her boobs? Maybe he should tip the waiter who’d stumbled, causing the entire fiasco with the escaped grape to unfold. Not that he’d wanted the waiter looking at her that way. Or any other man.
    Tonight, she’d be all his.
    But first, he had to find her in this crowd before she took off for good. Introduce himself. Ask her out. He hadn’t taken his friend Remy’s bet (for a sheriff, Remy had some rather compromised principles) but still had visions of how the night could turn out, with his naked body covered by her luxurious red hair. He looked around the crowded art gallery and found her.
    Red Hot.
    He squeezed through the crowd and came up to her. Shoulders stiff and her back ramrod straight, she stood before him, still wearing that delightful expression of sexy-pissed. Not that her displeasure gave him satisfaction, but the two little lines that formed between her brow when she glared was beyond cute.
    “Excuse me,” he began, giving her what he hoped was a dazzling smile.
    “Yes?” Her voice was tight, her eyes narrowed, and instead of looking at him in the eyes, she’d dropped her gaze, which was now riveted on his feet. Her face held none of the excitement he’d seen earlier when they’d first connected. Now she was glaring at his shoes.
    Huh . Not quite the reaction he’d anticipated. She had been flirting with him, right? He ignored her expression and pressed on, saying, “I saw what happened earlier. You know, with the grape and all.”
    At his statement, she ripped her stare from his feet to his face, her green eyes flashing anger. Whoops . Her expression said it all—she’d misunderstood why he’d been laughing.
    “Oh, crap. I didn’t mean it that way,” he backpedalled. “I thought the situation was funny, not that you were funny. Here we are at this stuffy fuddy-duddy event and you end up with a—” He cut