That Thing You Do (Whispering Bay Romance Book 1) (Volume 1) by Maria Geraci Page A

T-shirt that stretched over his broad shoulders, and ankle high steel toe boots. He couldn’t have looked yummier, even in a tux.
    She might be a flaky biscuit, butshe had to begrudgingly admit Tom was definitely what she’d call, a tasty biscuit. If you liked tall, handsome, and ridiculously stubborn. Which, thank God, she was immune to in his case.
    Tom slipped his phone in the back pocket of his jeans then picked up a clipboard from a nearby makeshift table. “Thanks for coming early.”
     “Sure, no problem. I’ve got Kitty Pappas and my sister-in-lawhere to help me move my car.”
    “Great. I appreciate that.” Tom didn’t react to the mention of Kitty’s name, but Allie had to wonder what he thought about the fact that his boss’s wife was here. Or if he even knew that Kitty had tried to intervene on Allie’s behalf by going above his head.
    She couldn’t help but think for the umpteenth time how much simpler all this would be if StevePappas had just shut things down for one day. But nothing in life worth having was easy.
    Tom glanced down at his clipboard, effectively dismissing her.
    Okay, she got it. He was a very important person and he had work to do.
    But so did she.
    A trickle of perspiration ran down her spine. She didn’t have to do this. There had to be some other way to get this story. Unfortunately,she just couldn’t think of one right now.
    A vision of Chris Dougal sitting at his desk typing away at his big illegal immigration piece jumped into her head. Allie couldn’t begin to imagine what he did to research that but she wouldn’t put it past him to have gone undercover, big show off that he was. Ben was probably salivating at Florida ! headquarters, waiting for Chris’s article to comeacross his desk. Despite Emma’s support, Allie’s little ghost story didn’t stand a chance. Especially since there was no such thing as ghosts.
    Maybe she could drive to Tallahassee and do a follow-up on Perky . She could see the byline now. Perky the Duck, Three Years Later…
    It sounded pathetic. But what where her choices? Too bad there wasn’t some manatee trapped in a reef somewhere.Or a flock of endangered pelicans or some sick sea turtles to write about. Or better yet, a dolphin in trouble. People loved dolphin stories. Especially if it had a happy ending.
    But no. Emma wanted a ghost story. And Emma was her chief supporter at Florida ! so this was a no brainer. Her only other option was to bow out of the competition gracefully. But Allie had wanted this job at Florida ! for so long and to just give up was unthinkable. She’d been stuck in the middle of Life Goal Number Two for far too long now.
    She swallowed past the lump of pride swelling her throat. “Tom, do you think, maybe, I could have a word with you?”  
    Hard Hat raised a brow and made a great big gurgling noise like he was about to spit out tobacco or something, which Allie certainly hopedwas not going to happen. Her stomach felt queasy enough already. “We need to get going, Boss. The guys have already had their morning coffee.”
    Tom frowned, although she couldn’t tell if his displeasure was meant for Hard Hat or her. Probably her. “I’m busy, Allie. Can this wait till later?”
    “I just need a minute. But it definitely can’t wait until later.”
    Tom glanced at his wristwatch. “Okay, you got one minute.” He handed the clipboard off to Hard Hat. “Do me a favor, Keith, tell the guys to be ready. I’ll meet you in front of the building as soon I’m finished here.” He placed his hand on her elbow and led her to the edge of a trailer where they were essentially hidden from the rest of the parking lot’s occupants.
    “What did you want to talk about?” Tom asked.
    She tried to think of something compelling, something that would convince him that delaying the teardown on the building was in everyone’s best interests, but all that came out was, “Kitty asked Steve to delay the demolition, but he says