Thwarting Cupid. Lori Crawford

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СКАЧАТЬ total my car? Now you want to steal my cellphone? Dream on.”

      “Give me that phone!” he demanded. He looked as serious as a heart attack when he advanced on her again. Carissa decided to cut her losses. She turned and walked away. Kelvin followed.

      “I am not playing with you.”

      Carissa picked up the pace. So did he. She broke into a run.

      “Get back here!”

      He chased after her. Carissa held tight to her phone and sprinted the best she could in the shifting sand. Despite his suit and dress shoes, he gained on her. She checked over her shoulder to see how close he was and ran dead smack into another man.

      “Oof!” Air whooshed from his lungs.

      Both Carissa and the man she’d barreled into sprawled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. She was so focused on keeping her phone safe, she just noticed in passing how solid the chest was that she used to leverage herself back to her feet. Before she knew it, Kelvin was upon them both. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up.

      “Let go of me!” she demanded. Carissa struggled to keep her phone away from Kelvin.

      “Carissa?” She froze when she heard a man say her name. “Are you all right?”

      “Yeah, I’m–Hutch?” She finally took a good look at the man she’d crashed into. He was still in the process of picking himself up off the ground. He dusted the sand from his khakis and dress shirt. Kelvin was all but forgotten while she enjoyed the view. And he was still quite a view. Broad chest, lean hips, thick brown hair that always looked just a bit long, glorious green eyes and full lips that would be just right for kissing. Okay...she was getting a little beside herself. Move on, girl. Last time they'd talked, he'd been in a pretty serious relationship. That made him off-limits.

      She needed to focus on the problem at hand. Feeling bold now that she had some backup, she leveled a haughty glare at Kelvin. “Take your hand off of me. Or would you like assault added to the growing list of charges against you?”

      While Kelvin and Carissa regrouped, the martial arts class crept closer until they were hemmed in. Kelvin had no easy escape. The class formed a half circle around them while the lifeguard station completed the trap.

      Robby stepped forward. “God, Kelvin. You’re such a loser. I can’t believe you totally just attacked this poor woman out of the blue. What is wrong with you?”

      “I didn’t. You saw what she did, taking that photo.”

      “She’s a fan. Of course she took a photo. I can’t go anywhere without someone taking a photo. No thanks to you.”

      Carissa had no idea what was going on here, but she wasn’t about to question it. Nor was she able to explain it to Hutch, who was looking even more confused than she was.

      “I can’t have a crazy person representing me. And just so we’re clear, you’re still fired. In fact, you’re more than fired. I’m moving to Endeavor.”

      Just like that, Kelvin forgot all about Carissa. Robby pushed his way out of the crowd. The slimy weasel followed him. “Robby baby. You don’t mean it. We’ve come too far together.”

      The people dispersed, leaving Carissa standing there next to a stunned Hutch. There was another man next to him wearing a bright red jacket with a white cross on the breast pocket. He was also wearing khakis and looked just as confused as Hutch.

      Carissa smiled at them both.

      “Hutch! What the heck are you doing over this way?” She gave him a friendly hug and tried not to dwell on his powerful arms that surrounded her for too brief a time before letting go. “Who’s your friend?” She reached out to shake his hand.

      Hutch gestured toward the other man. “This is Stuart Spencer, Lifeguard Supervisor. I need him to send a couple guards to speak at one of our school assemblies. I run the Foundation for Educational Excellence, now.”

      “Wow! Look at you, all grown up.”

      Hutch smiled. “And you.” He gestured toward the receding class with its movie star pupil. “What was that all about?”

      Carissa shrugged and tucked the phone safely in her pocket. “A misunderstanding. Sorry about interrupting your meeting.”

      Stuart held up his hands, waving off her apologies. “We were finished anyway.” The men shook hands. “Email me the details. I’ll line up some folks for you.”

      Hutch gave him a grateful smile. “That’s wonderful. The kids will appreciate it. I do, too.”

      Stuart waved and headed up the ramp into the lifeguard station, leaving Hutch and Carissa alone on the sand. She gestured toward the ocean. “Pretty great venue for a meeting.”

      He chuckled. Together, they headed back toward the street. “My office isn’t far from here. It was much easier to stalk Stuart in person than to keep calling him.”

      She glanced back at the lifeguard station. “I’m glad things worked out. I’d feel horrible if I’d ruined things bowling you over like that.”

      He rubbed his shoulder with an exaggerated grimace. “What’d you do, become a linebacker since the last time we saw each other?”

      “Funny.” She indicated a nearby bench. “Maybe you better take a load off to recover. Or do you not have the time?”

      “I'm the boss. I'll make time.” The two of them sat down. Carissa hoped he couldn't tell how eagerly she was devouring him with her eyes. Boy, she'd had such a crush on him back in the day. They'd both been volunteers for a local charity to combat homelessness. There for a moment, she had thought he might feel the same way. Then she'd gotten busy with her day job and he'd started dating some other girl. Before long, their communication had been relegated to updates on Facebook.

      “I’d love to hear all about this Foundation of yours.”

      * * * *

      Hutch had planned to pick up lunch for his staff after meeting with Stuart. The whole office and several volunteers were busy stuffing envelopes in their most ambitious donor mailing to date. If this went well like the numbers projected, they could expect a cash influx of a couple million dollars. Even though the thought of that excited him, it didn't begin to compare to running into Carissa like this. He rubbed at his sore sternum. Literally.

      She didn't know it, but the reason he'd stuck it out with Hands Helping the Homeless was because she'd been there. It had been one of the poorest run charities he'd ever seen. The leadership didn't like to be questioned, nor did they ever take suggestions. He'd been more than happy to wash his hands of them when the time came.

      Still, the time there had ended up being a wonderful learning experience on what not to do. That knowledge had come in handy when he'd started his educational foundation a mere three years ago. Already, they were on the brink of their fourth expansion. He'd hired a full time ten-member staff and had a core of wonderful volunteers who all had the same passion for education he did. More than once he'd considered asking Carissa to join them, but somehow he'd always gotten cold feet because he knew it wasn't for the right reasons. Hutch wanted her there for himself. Not for the cause. He'd worked hard to keep anything not for the cause СКАЧАТЬ