JUST LIKE MAN MM

by BEVARLY ELIZABETH

• ISBN13: 9780060509477
• ISBN10: 0060509473
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Hannah Frost is used to being surrounded by cute, sweet, troublemakers. After all, she's the principle of Indiana's upper class private elementary school, a popular repository for kids who "don't fit in" at public school. But even though she's been single since dinosaurs roamed the earth, what is interesting Hannah these days isn't her worst student㟩t's his father,What she can put her fingers on? Michael Sawyer, aka Raptor, former FBI computer specialist, has a few good ideas. Trouble is, he's too busy trying to save the worldor at least the world's internet connectionsfrom certain doom at the hands of an old enemy, and trying to get his imaginative son back on course at school. But there's always time for a gorgeous, ohsoprim, slightly mysterious headmistress, isn't there? Michael plans to make time, and do whatever it takes to convince Hannah to do the same.

Excerpts

Just Like a Man

Chapter One

"I guess you're all wondering why Icalled you here today."

The minute the words were out of her mouth, Hannah Frost regretted them. She was the overworked,overextended, overdressed, but egregiously underpaid -- notthat she was bitter or anything -- director of a tony privateschool in Indianapolis, not a fez-wearing, hookah-puffingnightclub owner in a Howard Hawks film noire. In place ofexotic Moroccan attire, she sported a classic -- meaningshe'd owned it for more than a decade -- dove-gray RalphLauren suit and crisp white silk blouse, her only accessorydiscreet pearl earrings. And a fez would have wreaked havocon the fawn-colored hair she'd cinched into a flawlessFrench twist that morning.

She did, after all, have a position as an overworked,overextended, overdressed, but egregiously underpaid -- not that she was bitter or anything -- director of a tony privateschool in Indianapolis to uphold. Not to mentionscores of trophy wife/mothers to compete with. And themothers -- Hannah hesitated to call them moms -- of theEmerson Academy were fashionistas out the wazoo. To putit in less-than-academic terms. To put it in even less academicterms, Sidney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart would have had their sartorial butts kicked by thosewomen.

Despite the lack of fez and film noire, however, Hannahwas surrounded by the usual suspects. At least, that waswhat she was thinking as she surveyed the trio of charactersseated on the other side of her desk. One of those people, infact, was a too-usual suspect: Alex Sawyer, the EmersonAcademy's newest pupil, who had arrived in their midst onlya month before, at the start of the new school year.

His permanent record -- yes, in fact, those did exist, inspite of urban legends to the contrary -- indicated that histransfer had come about because he hadn't been a "good fit"at his last school. And any educator worth her salt knew thatnot a good fit was teacher code for major troublemaker.Especially since Alex's last school had been one that prideditself on accommodating even the most challenging students.

Interestingly, though, Alex had quickly proven himself tobe Emerson's brightest pupil, too, remarkably gifted in bothmath and language arts. Even though he had just startedfourth grade, he was reading at a high school level and doingalgebra fairly effortlessly. Unfortunately, in addition tobeing a remarkably gifted student, Alex Sawyer was also aremarkably gifted pain in the butt.

All of nine years old he was, with a mop of unruly browncurls and hazel eyes that could break the heart of a lessertony private school director. A faint smattering of frecklesacross the bridge of his nose completed the picture of whatcould have been a lovable, precocious movie moppet. ButAlex Sawyer wasn't a movie moppet, Hannah knew. No,Alex Sawyer was the prince of darkness.

Oh, his conduct was acceptable enough. In fact, therewere times when Hannah thought the boy was a little toowell behaved. He was never late to class, he always had his homework finished neatly and on time, and he voiced all therequisite niceties like please and thank you and Wow, is thata new look for you? It's fabulous!

But the kid was a liar, no two ways about it -- which, nowthat she thought about it, sort of negated that nicety aboutthe fabulous new look thing -- and since coming to Emerson,the boy hadn't made a single remark that could be reasonablybelieved. If he commented one day that the sky wasblue, then, by golly, Hannah wanted to call the NationalWeather Service to find out what was wrong with the atmosphericconditions overhead.

A handful of Alex's prevarications had gone too far,though, something that had led him to Hannah's office onmore than one occasion. For example, his mother, he hadtold his new acquaintances at Emerson the week he arrived,had mysteriously disappeared five years ago after beingforce-fed an untraceable toxin bioengineered by an arcaneband of rogue spies in some Eastern European country thatHannah was fairly certain didn't exist. In any event, she'dnever heard of Badguyistan. Not to mention that, accordingto Alex's records, his mother and father had divorced fiveyears ago on the very mundane grounds of irreconcilabledifferences, with his father being awarded full custody. Sothat was a definite clue that maybe, just maybe, Alex wasmaking up that stuff about the rogue spies.

The father, it went without saying, was currently numbertwo on the list of usual suspects seated across from Hannah,even though the man was anything but usual. This was hisfirst visit to her office, even though she'd tried to see himseveral times before now. But Michael Sawyer seemed to goout of town a lot for his job, something that -- just a shot inthe dark -- might be contributing to his son's incessant needto invent outlandish tales. Alex obviously craved a more stablefamily environment. Because he had also told his class-mates that he used to have twin sisters, who had, alas, beenkidnapped and sold into bondage by an arcane band of rogueslave traders in yet another country that Hannah was prettyconfident didn't exist -- Outer Villainopolis. According toAlex's records, however, he was -- and had always been -- anonly child. Besides, there was also no mention in those recordsof him having lived anywhere other than Indiana for thepast five years, and before that, he'd been a resident ofMaryland, where he was born. And the last time Hannah hadchecked, indentured servitude hadn't been a major source ofincome for Indiana or Maryland ...

Just Like a Man. Copyright © by Elizabeth Bevarly. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

---

Excerpted from Just Like a Man by Elizabeth Bevarly
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.