Love Lessons Read Free Page A

asked, “Which one of the five women do you like the best?”
    â€œNone.”
    â€œThat’s a first. You not wanting to give me your input.”
    Jana huffed. “Oh, all right, the last one. At least she’s young. The others are old.”
    â€œI beg your pardon. Most of them are in their thirties.” At least he thought so since he hadn’t asked their age. “I’m thirty-six and don’t consider myself old.”
    â€œHow about the first one? No way she’s even thirty-nine. Probably more like fifty. Maybe even sixty. She had gray hair. Lots of gray hair.”
    â€œThere’s nothing wrong with gray hair.” Touching the side of his head, he’d remembered finding a few gray strands yesterday morning.
    â€œI need someone who can keep up with me. Please not her.”
    â€œI’ll consider your suggestion. Why did you like the last one?” He recalled Alexa Michaels’s pert features. She was pleasing to look at, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing.His wife had been a beauty, and she’d run off with another man. And besides, Ms. Michaels’s choice of clothes would keep anyone up at night or at the very least be a beacon in a dark room. And she was too young. He wanted someone with more experience.
    Jana shrugged. “Besides not being ancient, she has red hair like me.”
    â€œIn other words, you don’t want anyone.”
    â€œBingo.”
    He thought of the work piled up on his desk in his office and knew that wasn’t going to be an option. He’d been staying up late just to get some of that work done and wasn’t sleeping much. That lack was catching up with him.
    His daughter wasn’t ready to go back to school. She rarely left the yard, and when she did, she was wound so tight he thought she would snap. Going to her therapist’s office once a week or on errands with him was about all she could handle and that only lately because of her counseling.
    But most of all, the past few months he’d actually enjoyed teaching her. They had grown closer. Jana was doing so much better in her academics from last year. Homeschooling had been good for her. If only he could find someone to keep her on track while he was swamped with work.
    He rose. “I’ll be in my office. Remember, you have that book to finish reading then write a report on it.”
    Jana groaned, but flopped into the most comfortable chair in the house in front of the bay window and opened her book. As he left the family room, he glanced back at Jana, an intense look of concentration on her face—a face that reminded him of his ex-wife.
    Ian clenched his hands and made his way through the kitchen and living room to his home office. Althoughfolders were stacked high on his desk, the first thing he had to do was call the initial woman he’d interviewed and see if she would take the job. Alexa Michaels wouldn’t fit in.

Chapter Two
    F inally, the lunch crowd thinned enough that Alexa could take a few moments to rest her weary feet before she headed home. She still wasn’t used to standing for long hours. Being a waitress definitely wasn’t her preferred job. Besides, she hated the “uniform” they had to wear—a pale blue dress with a white apron and ugly white shoes. She felt as if she was stuck in an old fifties sitcom. All she needed was a little cap on her head.
    She eased into a booth with her hot tea and stretched her legs out, flexing her feet. “Ah,” she sighed the word and contemplated never getting up. She wished she’d gotten the job with Ian Ferguson, but he’d called last weekend and told her he went with someone else.
    She’d thought the Lord had brought her to the Fergusons. She’d only known about the job because Dr. Baker was a friend of his and had insisted he talk with Alexa when Dr. Baker found out he was interviewing others to help him with Jana. Alexa had been wrong,