Full Disclosure (Homefront: The Sheridans Book 2) Read Free Page B

not all it’s cracked up to be.
    The chimes ring out, announcing Allie’s
arrival. “Hi, guys,” she greets us. She doesn’t even bother picking up her
coffee at the counter before sitting to talk with us. She knows I only have a
couple minutes left before I have to dash out the door. Even though I see her
every evening since she lives in the townhome next to me, we enjoy our ritual
chat in the morning.
    “Hey, did you know that Mr. Sheridan put
his daughter in Orchard Acres?” Normally, I’d give her a warmer greeting, but
my body still feels like it’s been assaulted by the sight of him this morning. And
I can’t help wishing my friend would have warned me.
    She looks at me quizzically. “You mean
Ryan?”
    I sigh. He might be “Ryan” to her, but
he’s definitely “Mr. Sheridan” to me since his name is on my paycheck. “Of
course. Ryan Sheridan,” I say with diminishing patience.
    “Hannah’s starting at Orchard Acres?” Allie’s
eyes are wide with surprise.
    Taking a long sip of my coffee, I shrug. “I
guess so. I spotted him this morning taking a little girl into the front
entrance of the school. She was six or seven-ish. Pigtails. Really cute.”
    Allie nods. “That’s her. Ryan mentioned a
few times that she wasn’t settling well in public school. The classes are huge
this year and she just can’t stay focused. But he never mentioned he was
switching to private school.”
    “Well, I think he did. Practically put
the entire carpool line into cardiac arrest.”
    “What do you mean?” Allie looks at me
blankly, as though she never noticed that Ryan Sheridan has the body of an
underwear model. The poor girl is so enraptured by her boyfriend that she
really wouldn’t notice if Chris Hemsworth walked into Pop’s right now in his
Thor costume.
    “Get your head out of the clouds, Allie.
Ryan is hot,” Cass pipes in.
    Allie darts a look at Cass. “You’re
interested in Ryan?”
    “Hell, yes,” she answers.
    I’m surprised to notice that Cass’s reply
stings me ever-so-slightly. Not that I’m interested in Mr. Sheridan, of
course—except in the way that keeps me on his payroll. But I couldn’t
help feeling the spark when our eyes met this morning as I freed him from Natalie’s
talons. I felt a connection—one that made me feel slightly buzzed—like
those nights when Cass and Allie bring over a box of wine after Connor’s gone
to bed and we have a girls’ night in.
    But that’s all it was. A little spark. Nothing
of significance. Hell, every mom in the carpool line was feeling it.
    “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Allie
asks her.
    “Oh, please. I would have gone for any of
those Sheridan boys. But I only have a couple weeks left in this town before I
get to head back to New York. And they’re the kind of men that might start me
thinking about sticking around Ohio.” Her eyes rest on me. “Now, Kim here is a
different story.”
    I nearly spit out the mouthful of coffee
as I scoff, “I hardly think I’m his type.”
    “Why not?”
    “Well, for one thing, I’m not a
supermodel.”
    Allie shakes her head. “You’ve got the
wrong brother. Dylan’s the one who dates supermodels. Ryan usually goes more
for type A women. Brainy. You know, like that woman George Clooney married.”
    I raise my eyebrows. “I rest my case. That
woman looks like she could be a supermodel. Meanwhile, I’m a 24-year-old
single mom who’s working an entry level job. There’s nothing type A about me. Geez,
my son and I had to live with my parents till your hero boyfriend offered to
sell me one of the townhomes he renovated for dirt cheap. I’m a type P. Pathetic.”
    “You’re not pathetic. And you are brainy.”
    I shrug at that, not going to comment
that I must not be that brainy if I managed to find myself pregnant in college,
and having to drop out because I couldn’t keep my grades up with a newborn. “Besides,
I can’t date my boss.”
    “Who says?”
    “I say. This is the