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

you’re back on track. Be honest, you want to move on.”
    “You got that from a simple slip of the tongue?”
    “A Freudian slip. And let me remind you that a year ago you’d sworn off men.”
    With good reason. Her lips parted but no words came out. Not even a squeak.
    “I know you trusted Jamie and he nearly killed you, taking you on a wild ride in his new convertible and neglecting to mention he’d been partying and mixing drugs and booze—”
    “Thanks for the reminder.”
    “I just want you to know I’m not being unsympathetic. What he did to you was criminal, but it’s been a year…”
    “It’s all behind me, Ava. As ironic as it might sound, I have a lot to be grateful for. If not for the accident, I’d still be with Jamie.” He’d been fun to be with and an easy going boss but the accident had opened her eyes. Deciding to cut all ties with him had been a no-brainer, especially as he’d made no effort to alter his lifestyle and do something about the drug addiction she’d only then become aware of.
    She’d spent close to a month in hospital, and while the broken bones had mended, and the scars had eventually faded, her mind had kicked in, erecting a layer of wariness, something she’d discovered after six month’s worth of therapy.
    If it happened once, it could happen again.
    Lexie cringed and dismissed the self-defeating thought. Take one day at a time, she reminded herself. “And… most importantly, I’m looking at the sparkly bright side of life. If not for the accident, I would never have created Lulu McGee.”
    “Yes, yes, but you need to get out there again.”
    “Finding someone is so low on my list of priorities, besides, I don’t want to hurry—”
    Ava started humming the Beatles Can’t Hurry Love tune.
    “Are you being sarcastic?”
    “How about Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
    “Yes, I get the message.”
    “I’m not suggesting you go out there and hunt down Mr Right straightaway. Sift through. You never know what you might find.”
    Lexie tipped her keyboard upside down and shook off a mixture of crumbs and what looked like traces of chocolate. “I met Jack Riley today,” she blurted out. “He’s full of self-righteousness. You know how men stand with their feet apart and take up twice as much space as they need to? Well, even without that trait, he swallows up a room. And to top it all off, he didn’t give me the time of day. He also thinks Lulu McGee’s my girlfriend and I hate him.” She drew in a deep breath and heard Ava do the same.
    “He doesn’t know Lulu’s a comic strip character?”
    Okay, she’d sort of fibbed about that, by omission, at least. Lexie raked her fingers through her hair. What the hell had come over her? She didn’t have anything to prove to anyone. “That’s all beside the point. He thinks he can ride roughshod over me and have everything his way just because he’s a big hotshot developer.” She peered between the gaps of paper at the building opposite. With her windows blocked, she hadn’t caught sight of him all day, but she could see lights on in the place.
    “He doesn’t know Lulu’s a comic strip character?” Ava asked again.
    “For heaven’s sake. You know what I’m like when I’m put on the spot. All chatter and nonsense. Well, it just sort of came out and snowballed.”
    “Lying is like starting off on the wrong foot,” Ava reasoned. “You need to fix it before it gets out of hand.”
    “He wants nothing to do with me.” And she didn’t blame him. The way she’d been fixating about her lost view...
    Of course, it made sense to her. She did a minimum of eight hours work every day with nothing but a few phone calls to break up the tedium of working alone. Looking out her window at the sky, or if she leaned out far enough, at the river across the road, had always been a treat.
    She tapped on her mouse and opened the email Jack had sent her, and then clicked on the attachment. His face filled the computer