Read Ask Anyone for Free Online

persuasion.
    â€œMaybe you could think of this little delay as a blessing in disguise,” Maggie suggested. Then she added tactfully, “You know, and use the time to kind of put yourself back together. Not that appearances are everything, but you look kinda like you tangled with a wrestler or something. I’ve got a sewing kit right here I could loan you.”
    Jenna stared at her blankly. “A sewing kit?”
    â€œYour skirt,” Maggie said, then gestured. “And your jacket.”
    Jenna looked down. The slit in her skirt now extended almost to the waistband. Any movement, she concluded with a horrified stare, revealed way too much of her lower anatomy. Two buttons on her jacket were hanging by threads, which left a gaping space across her chest featuring an even more ample display of skin and lace than Maggie herself was sharing with the world. No wonder she’d encountered a series of astounded stares and heard several cars skid to a stop en route to the yacht center. She was lucky that brother of Bobby’s hadn’t come along to arrest her for indecent exposure.
    â€œOh, God,” she murmured, collapsing into a chair with a heartfelt moan.
    â€œNow don’t get upset,” Maggie said, bouncing up at once. She was as refreshingly eager as an accommodating kid as she rummaged in her desk. “Here’s the sewingkit.” She glanced worriedly from the array of tiny spools of thread to Jenna’s outfit, then grabbed the stapler. “Come with me. We’ll have you fixed up in no time. It might not be pretty, but you will be decent.”
    â€œWhat if the phone starts ringing or Mr. Spencer comes while you’re away from your desk?” Jenna said as she dragged herself out of the chair.
    â€œNobody important calls in the morning,” Maggie assured her. “They all know how Bobby is. And you don’t need to worry about him, either. He’s a sweetie once he’s had his coffee. You should see him. It’s like this ritual the way he grinds the beans, then hovers over it as it brews. It’s a little compulsive, if you ask me, but the coffee is way better than the instant kind I make at home. Anyway, once he’s had his first cup, he’s a doll.”
    â€œReally?” Jenna regarded her skeptically as Maggie led the way into a nearby bathroom. Jenna stripped off her skirt and jacket and they went to work with needle, thread and stapler.
    â€œOh, sure. Everyone knows that,” Maggie said. “Everybody in town loves Bobby. Well, except for the mayor, but he thinks Bobby is a threat to his power. As if Bobby would ever want that job. He has all the power he needs just being a Spencer. Did you know that his ancestors founded this town? They came over from Jamestown. Not that Bobby flaunts that. I think it embarrasses him when I tell people, but I think it’s just so cool. People should know, don’t you think?”
    â€œYou admire him?” Jenna concluded.
    â€œWhat’s not to admire? He’s nice. He’s gorgeous. He works hard. He’s from a great family.”
    Since Maggie was a young, attractive woman with no wedding band on her finger, Jenna asked, “Are you more than his secretary?”
    â€œYou mean like a one-woman cheerleading squad or something?” Maggie asked, then paled. “Or do you mean is there something going on romantically between us? Good grief, no.” She paused to consider the idea. “He’s kind of sexy, I suppose. That earring makes him look like a pirate. But he’s way older than me.”
    â€œHe can’t be more than thirty,” Jenna pointed out.
    â€œTwenty-eight, actually, but I’m only nineteen, and I’m not going to get seriously involved with anyone for years and years—and then it won’t be with Bobby Spencer.”
    More curious than she ought to be, Jenna asked, “Why not, especially if he’s such a