What a Girl Wants. Amy Vastine

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      Ryan was crazy. Wasn’t he? Being a meteorologist was the perfect job for her. Summer got paid to talk about the weather five days a week. What more could she ask for?

      Adventure.

      The truth was, the thrill of a storm chase was like nothing else she had ever known. She tried to appease the wild child inside her with rock climbing, hiking, even skydiving. Nothing came close. Summer loved the weather, but did she love being the—

      “Weather Girl.” Travis was all smiles as he sat on the corner of her desk. “Did you have a good weekend?”

      “I had a great weekend,” Summer said, taking a good look at him. His hair was shorter, a lot shorter. It made him look older, less like a boy and more like a man. “It looks like someone attacked your head with some clippers.”

      Looking sheepish, he rubbed his clean-shaven jaw with his knuckles. “I got a haircut,” he said, stating the obvious. “My aunt Kelly’s neighbor’s book club apparently thought it was too long. Kelly agreed and called my mother, who called me and said she wasn’t going to bake any red velvet cupcakes when I came to visit if I didn’t get it cut.”

      “She drives a hard bargain.”

      “You have no idea. Her cupcakes make me cry,” he whispered.

      “Interesting,” Summer said, not interested in the least.

      “I’ll ask her to bake you some. She likes you.” He cringed and closed his eyes. His cheeks turned pink. “I mean she watches you and likes you, you know, as a weather girl.”

      If anyone knew about sticking her foot in her mouth, it was Summer. “If it makes you feel any better, my grandmother thinks you’re cute,” she confessed to ease his embarrassment.

      “She does?” His eyes were bright like the clouds had lifted. “And would you say you consider your grandmother a wise woman?”

      “Oh, Mimi is completely off her rocker. I mean, she is more than a few cards short of a full deck. Bonkers. Mad as a hatter. Crazy as a—”

      “Okay, okay!” Travis put his fingers on her lips. “I get it.”

      Summer’s heart skipped a beat, then flew into overdrive. Before she could process this unexpected physical reaction, Travis pulled his hand away and shoved it deep in his pants pocket.

      “Did you know that the highest temperature ever recorded was 136 degrees Fahrenheit in Azizia, Libya?” she blurted out. “Can you imagine?”

      His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “That’s crazy hot.”

      “Summer, Travis. Can you two come here a minute?” Ken called from the doorway of his office, breaking the tension.

      Travis stood up and smiled. “I talked to him about giving your thirty seconds back.”

      Her thirty seconds. Summer made a mad dash to Ken’s door. She could barely contain her excitement as she took a seat and waited for the two men to settle in. Maybe Travis wasn’t so bad after all.

      “I want to run through your upcoming appearances. You guys know about the Balloon Festival in a couple weeks?”

      “I’m running in the 10K, so I’ll be there all day,” Summer announced anxiously. She wanted him to get to the part about her thirty seconds.

      “You run?” Travis asked, seeming surprised. Summer nodded and bit her tongue. Was it really that shocking? Was he unaware of the fact that women could run? Did she not look like a runner?

      “Well, you two don’t need to be there until three o’clock. Brian and Rachel will be kicking off the event in the morning. You’ll need to be there after the balloon launch. I’m sending some head shots for Travis to autograph. I think we could get a lot of traffic.”

      Abilene hosted an annual hot-air balloon festival to raise money for local charities. It attracted tens of thousands of people as well as local and national media attention. KLVA sent reporters to cover the event and held a meet and greet with some of the station’s personalities. Above and beyond Rachel and their anchor, Brian, Travis was certain to be a big draw this year. Summer loved the Balloon Fest, but she dreaded having to spend the afternoon dealing with the football god and his disciples. This obsession with a man who threw a ball to other men made absolutely no sense to her.

      Ken was momentarily distracted by an email alert. He slid his reading glasses off the top of his head and onto his face. He took his sweet time reading the message and typing a response.

      “I run,” Travis whispered.

      “That’s super,” Summer whispered back. Did he want a medal? Did he not get enough attention for his previous career? Clearly he needed recognition for being able to run, as well.

      “Okay.” Ken turned away from the computer. “There’s also the Rodeo Parade next month. You’ll both need to be available for that, too.”

      “No problem,” they said at the same time.

      “Perfect. Then I’ve only got one other thing.” Ken sat back, took his glasses off and set them on his desk. “Travis came to talk to me earlier about giving the thirty seconds back to weather.”

      “I appreciate that,” Summer said, meaning it wholeheartedly.

      “He and СКАЧАТЬ