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.Let’s just leave it at that.”He looked like he wanted to ask her something more, but he let it drop.“High school is hell for everybody,” he said instead.Shannon raised her eyebrows.“Yeah, right.Not for you.”Michael looked out the window again.“You’d be surprised.”• • •Lunch was over.There were no more French fries to eat, and no reason to linger any longer.Still, Michael wasn’t in as big a hurry to leave as he thought he would be.“So you’ll talk to Drew this week?” he asked as Shannon started to get up from the table to leave.“I’ll try.”“He doesn’t have a ton of time left to reconsider things.” Even he could hear the undercurrent of tension he had tried to keep out of his voice.He made an effort to keep his expression neutral.Easier said than done, judging by the slight softening he saw in Shannon’s face as she looked at him.“I understand.” She hesitated and then added, “I mean it.Okay?”He believed her.“Sorry.Just anxious, I guess.”She nodded, not with a lot of warmth maybe but without any perceivable traces of antagonism either.“Call me after?” he asked as she headed for the door.If he weren’t careful, he was going to make a real pest of himself.He bit his tongue to keep from blurting anything else out.“I will.” She let the door swing shut behind her.Michael watched her walk a short way down the street before crossing it.All in all, he thought things had gone well.She was going to help him, and he realized he actually wanted to help her.Startling though it may be, Shannon Mahoney was growing on him.He might even go so far as to say he was starting to like her.The mouth on her …He tried hard to picture her in high school but couldn’t.It was highly unlikely they had ever crossed paths at McKinley, but he wondered what would have happened if they had.He almost wished they did.He saw her start to pull open the door of her truck and then pause.Something had caught her attention, but he couldn’t tell what.Curious, he leaned closer to the coffee shop window to see better.She was looking at a window display in a women’s clothing store.There was a dress of some kind.It might have been green, but the sun’s glare off the glass made it difficult to see much.It was definitely short, though.A smile made his lips curve.“Do it,” he urged beneath his breath.“Take a walk on the wild side, Shannon.”Almost as if she could hear him, she shook her head and pulled the truck door open all the way.“Do it,” he whispered.She paused again, and then Michael’s grin got wider as she slammed the door shut and walked toward the store.“That’s my girl.”• • •This was a mistake, Shannon thought, standing in the middle of the boutique surrounded by rack after rack of clothes she would never have the nerve to wear in public and almost certainly couldn’t afford.What had possessed her to come in here?She turned around to leave but stopped with her hand on the door.Confidence.A woman of confidence would not let tiny things like shopping or dressing room lighting intimidate her.A woman of confidence would take a chance on something new, especially when the old had not been working out so well for her.And she most certainly wouldn’t have a panic attack at the thought of showing off a little skin.Would she?Then clearly she was not a woman of confidence yet.Baby steps, she told herself and peeled her fingers off the door handle.Forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths, Shannon put one foot in front of the other until she was standing before a saleswoman who was putting together a trendy ensemble for a mannequin.The woman, chic from the cutting edge style of her bobbed hairdo to the tips of her stiletto heels, looked up with a practiced smile pasted to her face.“Hello.Welcome to Martinique’s.”“Help me,” Shannon said.The saleswoman’s eyes widened as she took in Shannon’s jeans and t-shirt, but then she laid a well-manicured and comforting hand on Shannon’s shoulder.“Girlfriend, you’ve come to the right place.” She smiled, a gleam of anticipation in her eyes.This is going to be fun.”Chapter Five“Why would any woman want to torture herself like this?”Oh, sure, the spiky heels looked cute and sexy when she wasn’t actually trying to walk in them.Any sophistication they lent her was ruined the moment Shannon tried to take a step.She stumbled around her bedroom, practicing, hoping she would get the hang of them before she left for work in five minutes.At this point, she was not very optimistic about reaching that goal.Bo whined anxiously and watched her progress, or lack of it.“Don’t worry, Mommy’s fine,” Shannon assured him, and then nearly proved herself a liar by pitching forward and catching herself at the last minute on the bedpost.At least at work she would be sitting most of the time.That is, if this skinny little pencil skirt would allow it.Choosing to take the stairs in her stocking feet to be on the safe side, she carried the new shoes in one hand.Twenty minutes later, walking up the steps at the entrance to her workplace went a little more smoothly than her attempts at home.As long as she held on to the railing and took small steps, she moved with halfway decent grace.Small steps to the door, small steps over the threshold —A woman’s shriek startled her into nearly losing her balance again.Shannon quickly clutched at the doorframe for support as she started to wobble.“What the — ”Clarissa came running to greet her, her hands on her cheeks and her mouth hanging open.“Oh my stars! Who are you, and what have you done with Shannon Mahoney?” She put her hands on Shannon’s shoulders and looked her over from head to toe, eyes shining with undisguised delight.“Eeek! I love it!”“Clarissa, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”“Me? What about you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a skirt before.You’ve got legs! It’s like invasion of the body snatchers or something.”“Yeah, well, I’d better not drop anything today, because in these heels and this skirt — ” She tried unsuccessfully to inhale deeply and failed as the waistband refused to let her.“I don’t think I could bend over and make it back up again.”“Maybe not, but you’d look great trying.Oh, Shannon, what came over you?”She knew she radiated anything but confidence.“Temporary insanity?”“Then you should go crazy more often.And, honey, that shade of blue looks beautiful on you.”Glancing down a little shyly, Shannon smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles in the silky top.“I don’t know.It’s a little too … something.”“Non-beige? That’s its nicest feature, dear.Trust me, you look wonderful.” Clarissa took a step back to review her one more time, then frowned at Shannon’s hair.“But, honey, why don’t you let your hair out of that braid for once? As long as you’re trying a new look and all.”“No, I think it’s better the way it is.Really.” She had briefly considered cutting it or getting someone to change the color for her, but then lost her nerve [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]