Victoria Pade - Celebrity Bachelor

“It’s okay. Comes with the territory. But let’s just do it like this—I know up front what the powers that be want of me. You don’t need to put in any kind of plugs or pleas or promotions. Let’s just shelve that right off the bat, okay?”

“Okay.”

“What I’m interested in is getting familiar with the school, the town and the people my sister is going to be in close proximity to and relying on for the next four years. So to tell you the truth, since setting eyes on you, I’ve been thinking that Kirk the Fund-raiser’s accident is a stroke of luck for me—”

“I doubt that it was that for him.”

“True. But for me it means that now I get the insider’s view. Kind of like going into a restaurant through the kitchen instead of being ushered in the front door and taken to the VIP section. I’m also thinking that if people around here meet me as a regular guy who one of their own is showing around, this will all go much more smoothly. There will be less of a chance of anyone realizing who I am or calling some damn tabloid to report it, and that will ultimately give Alyssa the chance of staying off the radar here. And even if someone does track her to Northbridge eventually, it would help if, by then, your little town likes her—and me—enough to circle the wagons to protect her. I think that could all start now, with you.”

In other words, the dean and mayor wanted her to win his favors, and he wanted her to make the whole town love him and form an instant loyalty to him and his sister.

Was that all?

Nothing like a little pressure. And with everything she owned still in boxes she should be unloading.

For the second time—only to a different audience— Cassie said, “I can’t make any promises about people liking you or circling wagons to protect Alyssa. But I will show you around and introduce you as Joshua Johansen.”

But unlike the mayor, Cantrell seemed satisfied with her reply. “Good enough. I just want a low-profile, low-key, no-big-deal week.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“So tomorrow night? The Welcome To Northbridge College thing?”

“Right. It’s a meet-and-greet—mainly with administrators and other parents. The teaching staff will be at the reception on Wednesday night, which you will hear about at the Welcome To Northbridge thing when the dean outlines all of the activities and events scheduled for Parents’ Week.”

“We can hook up for that, then? After my day with Alyssa?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“Great. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Cassie wasn’t sure if that was simply a courtesy remark or if he was looking forward to the Welcome night or to seeing her again. There were shades of all three in that simple sentence.

But she opted for discounting the possibility that he’d be looking forward to seeing her because she didn’t really believe that could be true.

And since that seemed to conclude what was needed of her—for the moment, at any rate—she said, “If there’s nothing else you need then, I’ll leave you to your shower.”

He smiled again at that and there was a hint of sexy amusement playing about the corners of his mouth that she didn’t quite understand. It wasn’t as if she’d said something suggestive, she thought.

And yet, once they’d said good-night and she’d left him in the chancellor’s cottage, the thought of Joshua Cantrell taking a shower did seem to linger in her mind in a way that wasn’t altogether innocent.

In fact, it wasn’t innocent at all when she began to imagine him sloughing off that leather jacket, that T-shirt, those jeans….

But Cassie chased the images out of her head by reminding herself that this was Joshua Cantrell she’d been on the verge of mentally picturing in his altogether.

Joshua Cantrell who, if Brandon Adams had been a world away from her, was at least two worlds away. Or maybe three or four.

But however many worlds away from her and hers he was, it was enough to remember that he, like Brandon, was not a man for her.

Joshua Cantrell was a successful, wealthy, sought-after man who showed up on magazine covers with a different woman every week.

A different beautiful woman every week.

And she was a country bumpkin.

Oil and water.

They didn’t mix.

And she wasn’t going to forget it.

Not ever again.

“Umm, cowboys are coming.”

It was late Monday afternoon and Joshua was lying on a blanket he and his sister had spread under a tree in order to have a picnic in the shade. A tree that he’d thought was in the middle of nowhere when they’d pulled the motorcycle off the road a few hours earlier.

His eyes were closed, his hands were under his head and he’d been dozing while Alyssa read her biology textbook. But Alyssa’s voice snapped him from the brink of sleep and he opened his eyes to find that two men were approaching them on horseback. Complete with the boots and hats to prove his sister wasn’t exaggerating when she’d identified them as cowboys.

Joshua sat up, blinked to clear his eyes and then stood.

The two horsemen guided their mounts to within a few feet of the blanket and came to a stop.

“Hi,” Joshua greeted.

“You know you’re on private property?” one of the men asked without answering Joshua’s hello.

“No, sorry, I didn’t know. It wasn’t fenced off or posted. We were just out for the afternoon, having a picnic. We’ll get going, if we’re trespassing.”

“You’re trespassing, but so long as you’re not squattin’ you can stay a while. Just make sure you pick up after yourself.”

“Absolutely,” Joshua assured them.

Both cowboys were not much older than Alyssa and might not have been as accommodating had she not been there. But Joshua recognized the interest in the glances both men were tossing in her direction.

Apparently Alyssa hadn’t missed it, either. Or the fact that the cowboys were handsome cusses, because she set down her book and got to her feet, too.

“Can I pet your horses?” she asked.

Joshua could barely suppress a laugh at the change in her tone. That was definitely not how she talked to him. But now his eighteen-year-old sister was flirting. And it reminded him that she wasn’t a little girl anymore.

There was plenty of other evidence to prove that, as well. She was tall and slender, but had developed some cleavage he’d discovered her showing off underneath the tight tank top and overblouse she was wearing today. She’d also had her black hair cut into a style that was very short and edgy, and she was spiking it on top and in back—something much, much different from the long straight hair with bangs that had always made her look sweet and prim.

There was the addition of makeup, too. She wore a dark gray eye shadow, and a coal-black liner and mascara that caused her pale eyes to stand out much, much more. Plus she was wearing lipstick she hadn’t been using the last time he’d seen her, a month ago.

The stuffy headmistress at the all-girls boarding school she’d only recently graduated from wouldn’t have approved of the changes she’d made to become the college Alyssa. But Joshua reminded himself that he wasn’t her former stuffy headmistress. He was her brother. And he couldn’t deny that she was all grownup. Whether he liked it or not.

So instead of interfering with her playing coquette to the cowboys, he sat back on the blanket as Alyssa went to stand between the horses and their riders.

Joshua didn’t abdicate all his responsibilities or brotherly protectiveness, though. Rather than lie down or close his eyes again, he stretched his legs out in front of him, propped one ankle on top of the other, and crossed his arms over his chest, lounging against the tree trunk to keep watch on the proceedings.