Beatrice and Douglas Read Online Free Page A

most attractive when she was spitting fire at him. 
    “Are you deaf?”
    “You know I have the strangest feeling something happened
last night.  You want to talk about it?”
    Beatrice froze; she could only hope her cheeks weren’t as
red as they felt.  Coming out of the blue like that, the question had
caught her off guard.
    “I told you, you acted like an idiot and crashed in my
room.”
    “That’s all?”
    “A really big idiot.”
    Douglas leaned his head forward until he was close enough to
take a big sniff of her neck.  Beatrice was vividly reminded of when he
had done the same thing last night and what it had led to.  She started
kicking again.
    “If nothing happened, what are you so worried about?”
    “I don’t need to have a reason to find you
distasteful.  It’s my usual feeling.”
    “That’s not how I remember it.”
    She froze.  His smile was just a little too wicked and
his eyes dwelled just a little long on her lips.  Beatrice did the only
thing she could think of.  She grabbed his ear and gave it a good yank.
    “Ow, shit.”  He dropped her, quickly.  Luckily for
Beatrice, she was still close enough to the rail to grab hold so her feet could
hit the floor first.  She pulled herself up and glared as Douglas rubbed
his abused ear.
    “Shrew.”
    “Peasant.”
    They glared at each other until someone cleared his throat,
then they turned in unison to glare at the interruption.
    “What?!” 
    “There’s a call for you,” he said nodding at Beatrice and
handing her the portable phone.  Beatrice shook off her anger with an
effort and took the phone, heading for the other room.
    “Thanks, Frank.”  She passed him quickly and did not
spare Douglas more than an angry glance.
    Douglas had to strain not to reach out and stop her.
    “Jack?”
    “Nah, the lawyer.”
    Douglas gnashed his teeth and started down the hall,
determined not to waste any more of his day thinking about stubborn,
mean-mouthed women.  To hell with it, he had work to do.
    Frank breathed out a harsh breath as Douglas stormed
past.  He headed back downstairs shaking his head.  “Going to be a
long day.”
    ***
    “No, Charles, I do understand.  It’s not that big a
deal.”  The hammering was loud and close.  She plugged her ear to
hear the phone better.  “What?  No.  Charles, I can’t hear
you.  Why don’t you call me later?  I’ll be at the hotel about
seven.  What?  Charles, I told you it’s okay.”  She tried to get
farther away from the door and the noise, but it didn’t seem to work.
 “Charles, call me later.  I can’t understand you.  Okay, yeah,
I’ll talk to you later.”
    Beatrice hung up the phone with a frown.  It seemed
that everyone expected her to be upset but her.  Of course, she had more
humiliating worries today.  Like how was she supposed to work with a man
who drove her crazy in every way possible?  A boyfriend that didn’t show
up didn’t seem like too much of an issue.  If he had shown up, now that
might have been a problem.  Whatever else this hellish job was proving, it
was clear that breaking it off with Charles would be the first thing she did
when she returned to Seattle.  He deserved better than a girlfriend who
lusted after another man, even if she had no intention of doing something about
it.
    It was a long day.  The wood had to be ordered to
replace the rotten floorboards and the electrical and plumbing was going to be
a huge project that had to be done before the new drywall.  They had men
standing around costing money and nothing was getting done.  At least the
walls had been demolished and the refuse carted away, but the rest of the work
seemed to be at a standstill.  Everyone’s temper was on a short fuse, and
the customary afternoon rain didn’t cool it down much.  By the time the
boys packed up and headed home, they were giving Beatrice and Douglas wide
berths and being uncharacteristically quiet. 
    Beatrice threw her blueprints and