Clash of Hearts

Clash of Hearts

Darlene Gardner

Books by Darlene Gardner

Romantic Comedies

Three’s Comedy (boxed set)

The Misconception

Bait & Switch

Snoops in the City

Three For All (boxed set)

Clash of Hearts

Baby It’s You

Her Very Merry Mistake

Forget Me? Not

Once Smitten & Twice Shy

Contemporary Romance

The Christmas Cupid

Winter Heat

To The Max

Romantic Mysteries

Sound of Secrets (A Saltwater Romance)

Lowcountry Lies (A Saltwater Romance)

Paranormal Mystery

The Dead Ringers serial (Volumes 1-9)

Copyright 2012 Darlene Gardner

Cover by P.K. Gardner

Smashwords Edition

Publishing History

Paperback edition: Avalon Books 2003

All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Darlene Gardner.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Afterward

Other eBooks by Darlene Gardner

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

The emotion Michelle Germaine avoided at all costs was anger.

No matter that her stomach was a world-leading producer of acid, she couldn’t indulge in acid-purging fury. Her body’s unfortunate response to anger had taken care of that.

That was why, as she sat at a stoplight watching lightning slice the October sky, she tried to convince herself she wasn’t angry at being called away from work in the middle of the day.

She plucked her purse off the passenger seat, rummaged through it and popped an antacid tablet into her mouth.

Thunder rumbled, and she bit her lip so hard it hurt. At this very moment, her skittish clients could be changing their minds about making an offer on the house they’d been about to buy. Michelle tried very hard to thrust away her worries about lost commissions, unpaid bills and single motherhood.

Instead, she thought about the monumental misunderstanding awaiting her.

The middle school secretary who’d summoned her to the principal’s office had woven a fantastic tale about Michelle’s eleven-year-old son. Jason had been strangely distant lately, but he was typically a sweet-tempered boy. No way could he have done what the secretary claimed he did.

The light turned green, and Michelle pressed the sole of her soft suede shoe on the accelerator. Starlight Pond Middle School was ahead on the right, and she could already spot the tall evergreens that shaded the grounds.

The sooner she exonerated her son, the sooner she could return to her jittery clients.

She switched on her turn signal with the flick of a long-nailed, pink-tipped finger. An oversized Jeep, traveling so swiftly it resembled a red blur, appeared from the opposite direction. Michelle slammed on the brakes. Tires screeching, the Jeep made a left turn in front of her car and zipped into the school parking lot.

What am I? Invisible? she yelled. It didn’t matter that the Jeep’s driver couldn’t hear through her rolled-up car windows. She pressed down hard on the horn. One. Two. Three times. This is not a phantomobile.

Lightning again tore through the sky, and this time thunder followed closer after the flash. Nature’s display reminded Michelle that she absolutely, positively could not lose her temper on the way to see the principal.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

She drew the air deeply into her lungs and slowly released it. Within moments, she had control of herself.

Determined to remain calm, Michelle turned into the parking lot. Michelle didn’t even flinch when the red Jeep swung into a prime space feet from the school’s entrance. She had a glimpse of a tall man with thick, brown hair and a navy jersey-knit shirt emerging from the Jeep as she searched the small parking lot for another space.

The quest was pointless. Every space was filled. The infernal man in the Jeep had taken the last parking place. She would have to park across the street in the shopping center lot. This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t taken her parking space.

If I ever get my hands on you...

In and out. In and out. In and out.

She drew the air deeply into her lungs but still jerked the steering wheel as she exited the school grounds. Minutes later, she got out of the car and raised her eyes to the gray, menacing sky. Of course this would be the day she’d remembered to take her umbrella into the real-estate office because of the threat of rain. And the day she had left it there.

She hadn’t traveled more than a half-dozen steps when the swollen clouds erupted, sending cool rain cascading over her. She made an ineffectual umbrella with her hands and tried to cover the hair she’d carefully blown dry and styled that morning. She quickened her pace, but oncoming traffic forced her to stop when she reached the highway.

Puddles had already collected on the road. A van traveling too close to the curb sprayed it in Michelle’s direction. She jumped back, but not quickly enough. Muddy water splashed her carefully chosen linen suit.

See what you did! she yelled.

Her comment was directed not at the driver but at the dark-haired man who’d stolen her parking space. If not for him, she’d already be inside the school. And she’d be dry.

She stepped off the curb directly into some free-standing water, adding her high-heeled suede shoes to the casualty list. She swiped at the strands of shoulder-length blonde hair that hung wetly in her eyes.

Lightning again slashed through the gloom. She imagined a similar jagged bolt traveling inside her body, igniting the temper she fought so hard not to lose.

By the time she reached the entrance to the school, she knew it was no use. Any second now, like the sky, she was going to erupt.

The consequences be damned.

***

CHASE FLETCHER LIKED to kick back and relax whenever he could, even if only for a few minutes outside the closed door of a principal’s office. He shifted his big body this way and that in a wooden chair three sizes too small and reluctantly gave up on relaxation. Very reluctantly.

He supposed it was just as well. He needed to use this time to figure out how to handle Lauren’s latest transgression. That subject wasn’t conducive to relaxation.

The school secretary said his daughter had been in a fight, which Chase figured was probably at least half Lauren’s fault. Hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if Lauren were entirely to blame. He pitied the girl who’d tangled with her. Lauren would skip the hair pulling and go straight for the uppercut.

Chase typically didn’t waste time on worrying, but now he felt his forehead furrow in an unfamiliar frown. Maybe he should start listening to his father’s familiar refrain about finding Lauren a full-time mother. Maybe growing up as the only female in the three-person household which included his widowed father was giving the girl too many hard edges. A woman might be able to smooth them. Heaven knew Lauren didn’t see her own mother often enough to even out the rough patches.

His thoughts drifted back decades to his own mother. He closed his eyes, and he could picture her. Pretty and pink-cheeked as she leaned over the kitchen stove, checking on the hamburger stroganoff that had been Chase’s favorite. Wiping her hands on her apron as she turned and caught sight of him, her face creasing in a loving smile before she wrapped him in a spontaneous hug.

Chase had been eight when cancer claimed her, which was old enough to realize exactly how much he and his father were losing.

Lauren hadn’t even had her mother in the house full time for that long. He and Andrea had divorced when the girl was barely two, and Lauren didn’t remember living with her. Despite the expensive gifts Andrea mailed across country every birthday and holiday and the visitation rights she exercised twice annually, Lauren didn’t know her mother well enough to miss her.

He’d certainly never missed his ex-wife after she left, except for Lauren’s sake. But now he wished he had somebody besides his father to share the challenges of day-to-day life with a pre-teen. Somebody female who cared about Lauren as much as he did.

Somebody soft and warm-hearted who cared about him, too.

A movement beside the secretary’s vacant desk caught his eye. He turned to see a female face so lovely that for a moment he thought God had answered his prayers. Then he noticed that everything that went with the face was bedraggled.

The rain had darkened hair he’d wager was blonde to ash brown and not an inch of the woman was dry. Even her shoes made a squishing noise as she walked. Her rose-colored suit was wrinkled and dotted with mud. It made her look like a wilted lady bug.

She was a mess, all right, but an extremely appealing mess. She had curves in all the right places even if they weren’t as generous as he usually preferred. Her legs were proportionally long for her height, which was pixie size, just a couple of inches over five feet tall.

Heat shot through him, unexpected in its intensity. He turned his attention back to her beautiful face, curious to see what color her eyes were. For an instant, they made him think of the deep, blue sea. Then he realized it was storming in the sea.

You’re the man in the Jeep! she cried.

Her anger, for some unfathomable reason, was directed at him. Still, he couldn’t resist teasing her. A corner of his mouth lifted. Actually, I’m the man in the chair.

She advanced toward him, her steps quick and jerky, and stopped when she was barely a foot away. She smelled of a light, citrus perfume and rain water.

You cut me off! And then you stole my parking place!

He screwed up his forehead because she wasn’t making sense. Now that she was closer, he noticed that something strange was going on with that enchanting face. I’d like to have a conversation with you. I really would. But I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Don’t you dare plead ignorance!

He tilted his head as he regarded her. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

His remark rendered her speechless for a moment. He took the opportunity to study her, examining the heart shape of her face, the pouty pink of her lips and the slope of her pert nose. That was it. Her nose. It was quivering.

Don’t patronize me! she retorted, swiping at her nose. You deliberately cut me off! You probably knew how small the parking lot was!

Now wait there just a minute. A strange rumbling reverberated inside him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think his long-dormant temper was coming to life. How could I have deliberately cut off anything of yours when I’ve never seen you before? I’m innocent.

Innocent? She laughed harshly. Try reckless. I had to slam on my brakes so I wouldn’t slam into you! Then you didn’t even have the decency to let me have a parking space that was rightfully mine!

Decency? Why, a more decent man than Chase Fletcher didn’t exist! He opened doors for little, old ladies. He didn’t pass a homeless person without giving up some change. He went to church on Sundays.

He unfolded his long limbs from the chair, muscle by muscle, joint by joint, until he loomed over her. Then he gave her his best don’t-mess-with-me glare, the one that had kept pitchers from brushing him off the plate in his baseball-playing days.

From where I’m standing, he said, you don’t know the meaning of the word decency.

Her blue eyes blazed up into his. He wouldn’t admit for a front-row seat at the World Series that he would have given up the parking space had he spotted her. Which he emphatically had not.

Listen, you big bully. She took a step closer. Her breath, when it blasted him, was sweet. I won’t let you use the fact that you’re seven feet tall to intimidate me.

His temper, the one he never lost, flared like a lighted candle fortified with oxygen. When he spoke, it was in a soft voice he barely recognized as his own. His teeth, amazingly, were clenched.

I’m six feet four. Whereas a moment ago, Chase’s voice had been soft, now it was loud enough to rival the school’s intercom system. And I’m not trying to intimidate you. I’m bringing up the possibility that you don’t drive any better than Miss Daisy.

Her nose entered hyper speed. Then she sneezed.

What a foolish thing to say! She sneezed again.

This time, Chase was the one who took a step toward her. She didn’t retreat. She also kept sneezing.

Look who’s talking! he yelled. "A woman who doesn’t know