Page 41 (1/2)

"You thought of me as a debutante"

"I assuirl Not a woer to impress your father hat you could do that it didn’t matter how many people you stepped on Then we did the Celebrity Debate, and I discovered that none of the things I wanted to believe about you were true"

"Then why--"

"What you’ve got to understand," Nolan added forcefully, "is that I don’t want to becoh loud and clear" She aze toward the floor, afraid he’d see how vulnerable hedirectly in front of her, so close his breath warer, he lifted her chin, raising her eyes to his

"All evening I was telling myself how noble I was," he said "Griff Bradley is far better suited to you than I’ll ever be"

"Stop saying that!"

He wrapped his arainst him "There can’t ever be any kind of relationship between us," he said, his voice rough "I learnedto repeat that , his mouth lowered to hers until their lips touched The kiss was slow and fa as Nolan eased away from her

"That wasn’t supposed to happen," he murmured

"I won’t tell anyone if you won’t," she whispered

"Just remember what I said," he whispered back "I don’t do ith rich girls I already found that out The hard way"

"I’ll re up at hiain

It was three days before Maryanne saw Nolan She didn’t need anyone to tell her he was avoiding her Maybe he thought falling in love would wreak havoc with his coiven her a chance, Maryanne would’ve told him she didn’t expect hi up her apart, which kept her busy the rest of the ti a hu for Rent-A-Maid

"Here’s Nolan now," Barbara whispered as she hurried past Maryanne, balancing three plates

Autolass and a menu and followed Nolan to the booth He was halfway into his seat when he saw her He froze and his narrowed gaze flew across the rooed waitress

Barbara didn’t appear in the least intimidated "Hey, what did you expect?" she called out "We were one girl short, and when Maryanne applied for the job she gave you as a reference Besides, she’s a good worker"

Nolan didn’t bother to look at the reen order pad out of her apron pocket

"I’ll have the chili," he said gruffly

"With or without cheese?"

"Without," he bellowed, then quickly lowered his voice "How long have you been working here?"

"Since Monday ry You were the one who toldhere!"

"Why not? It’s a respectable establishment Honestly, Nolan, what did you expect me to do? I had to find another job, and fast I can’t expect to sell any articles for at least athe bills"

"You could’ve done a hell of a lot better than Mo to argue? Again?" she asked with an i his napkin just in time to catch a violent sneeze

Now that she had a chance to study him, she saw his nose was red and his eyes rheuot a cold"

"Are you always this brilliant?"

"I try to be And I’ll try to ignore your rudeness Would you like a glass of orange juice or a couple of aspirin?"