Nerd Gone Wild Read Free Page A

the kind of creature he’d want to dine on. “Thanks, but I’m stuffed.”
    “If you change your mind, let me know. I enjoy cooking for a man.” She started up the wooden stairs to the second floor.
    Mitch hefted his suitcase and followed. So far this trip was about as nightmarish as he’d envisioned.
    Betsy mounted those stairs without breaking a sweat or breathing hard. Mitch had to hand it to her. For a plus-sized woman she was in remarkable shape.
    “Down this hallway,” she said, not even puffing from the climb.
    Mitch didn’t puff, either, because he’d worked out every night in the Jarrett mansion’s fully equipped weight room. He’d had to pick times when Ally was occupied elsewhere, because keeping in shape wouldn’t fit very well with the image of him he wanted her to have. Better that she think of him as a weakling.
    “Here we are.” Betsy opened the door with the metal key.
    “Uh, if you don’t mind my asking, which room is Ally using?”
    She gazed at him for a moment before answering. “I wondered if it was like that. You made it sound like business, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”
    “What do you mean?” Betsy couldn’t have seen through his nerd persona that fast. Ally hadn’t, and she’d been around him for months.
    “A man like you doesn’t jump on a plane and fly three thousand miles for a few signatures on a piece of paper.”
    Mitch lapsed into nerd-speak. “Of course I do. It’s my job. If everything isn’t accomplished in a timely manner, then—”
    “You have a thing for her, don’t you?”
    Mitch spotted a way to head off Betsy’s potential advances and grabbed it. “Okay, you caught me. I adore that woman. But please don’t tell her.”
    “Oh, I think she already knows, or if not, she’ll soon figure it out. She’s a smart girl, and it doesn’t take a genius to see that when a man chases a woman all the way to Alaska, he has a serious case of the hots for her.” Betsy sighed. “Which is too bad, because I’m definitely in the market.”
    “I’m honored to know that you’d be interested in me. If I didn’t have something going with Ally, you’d be at the top of my list.” God, if that didn’t sound stuffy and boring, but it was exactly the tone he was after.
    Her cheeks turned pink. “I’ll take that as a real compliment, considering our age difference. But I want you to think about this—older women tend to be far more grateful for the attention of a man.”
    Mitch managed to keep a straight face. “I’m sure that’s true, and that means I’m missing out, which is my misfortune.”
    “And if you don’t mind my saying so, you have an uphill road with Ally. She didn’t look especially glad to see you.”
    Now there was an understatement. “We’ve, uh, had some areas of disagreement.” Ally considered him a meddling geek, which is what he wanted her to think. If she ever found out that her late grandmother had hired him as her bodyguard, she’d have a fit. He’d never met a more independent spirit.
    “Well, remember, if things don’t work out, I’ll be handy, for a shoulder to cry on or something more… comforting.” She winked at him and walked into his room. “So this is it. If you need anything, you’ll have to come down and ask for it personally. I have phone jacks, but I ended up taking the phones out. Too much trouble with people making long-distance calls.”
    One less thing for him to plant a bug in. “That’s okay. I have my cell.” Following her into the room, he left the door wide open, just in case Betsy decided to lunge, after all.
    “You’d be better off using the phone at the desk. Cell phone reception is terrible here in Porcupine.”
    “I don’t suppose there’s a local Internet number?” Probably a dumb question. He took in the furnishings at a glance—old wooden dresser, double bed supported by an iron bedstead, lace curtains at a window covered in frost. The light had already started to fade.