Her Irresistible Troublemaker (A Town Named Eden Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

wouldn’t want the paper coming down while you’re in… the throes of passion.” 
    “The throes of passion? Who talks like that?”
    Someone used to employing euphemisms around his younger sisters. “Okay. All done. Take care and enjoy yourself tonight.” He turned and focused on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping.
    “Wait.”
    “Can’t stop now, Lexie. I’m already behind schedule.” Besides, if he lingered for another second he’d end up embarrassing himself.
     
     

Chapter Three
     
     
    “Finished in record time. One sizzling hot adventure for Lulu McGee all wrapped up.” Lexie put the call on speaker so she could tidy up her desk while she talked—all part of the grand plan to keep herself as busy as a bee, leaving no room for wayward thoughts to crawl into her headspace.
    “I can’t believe you spent the day working. It’s Saturday. You should be out and about.”
    “Ava, I’m trying to impress you with my professionalism. But I did other stuff too.” After a month away visiting her parents, she’d needed to restock her fridge, mostly to justify the space it took up in her small galley kitchen. She’d also tried to do something about her cringe worthy view, at least what remained of it now that the windows had been covered.
    “I bought a goldfish. It’s black with purple fins.” And she was already thinking of getting another one. She’d even toyed with the idea of getting a fish tank to run along the length of her window, but her budget...
    Ugh!
    She wished she could cross that one word off her vocabulary. While the comic strip kept the wolves howling from a safe distance, she wouldn’t mind being able to splurge more often on impulse, feel-good items.
    Her lack of funds had to be addressed before it became a real issue. Time to hit that drawing board again and come up with another game plan. And she’d have to be creative because after a year of working from home, she didn’t relish the idea of another office job and maybe, another Jamie-like boss in her life. She leaned forward and gazed at her goldfish. “His name’s Melville.”
    “Next you’ll be telling me you’ve acquired a dozen cats and don’t see anything wrong with spending the day wearing your tatty old bathrobe.”
    “Are you trying to exert peer group pressure?” Lexie tugged at her seen-better-days bathrobe.
    “Sorry, I drew the short straw and be warned, this is only the beginning. There’s an intervention in the making.”
    They had three friends in common so Lexie knew which ones she should avoid for a while. “Okay, I’m not a total loser. I met a guy at a bookstore.” Their eyes had met. They’d smiled. He’d made a comment about the book she’d been perusing. A coffee and a chat later, they’d gone their separate ways and instead of feeling despondent, Lexie had felt relief and nothing else. No light spring in her step, would she ever see him again feeling.
    “I think my goldfish scared him away. He said something about owning pets requiring too much commitment.” Lexie looked down at the drawing she’d been doodling and frowned. She’d sketched Lulu McGee in a black cocktail dress with a guy who looked annoyingly familiar.
    “What a jerk.” Ava sighed. “But that shouldn’t stop you from going out tonight.”
    Lexie shook her head. She wanted to spend the evening at home and enjoy her own space. The month she’d spent in Eden diverting attention from herself and evading hard to answer questions had left her drained and in need of recharging.
    Could she get away with fibbing again? She’d pulled it off earlier that morning when she’d told Jack Riley she had a hot date lined up for the night. Not surprisingly, his reaction had been to hotfoot it out of her apartment.
    “I couldn’t give it away even if I tried.” Lexie sprung upright. Where had that come from? And… “Did I say that out loud?”
    “You sure did, and you sounded pathetic, but at least it shows