Miracle Pie Read Online Free Page B

eyes, but they were blue gray, reminding him of a rainy day
sky. And something else. Something he couldn’t quite grab hold
of...
    He frowned and looked back at Rosa. This was
the wrong time to let his mind wander. He had an idea to sell. No,
not an idea. A dream. Under his guidance, it could be a lucrative
one for all three of them.
    “I’ll do it for one-third of the show. I’ll
produce it. I’ll pay my own salary.” He grinned at them, his heart
pumping. He was fighting for this, and it had been a long time
since he fought for anything. “And I’m very expensive.”
    “So are we,” Rosa said, her tone
militant.
    “I can tell that by looking at you.” He
switched his gaze to Katie who was watching him as if he were an
exotic snake. “And you.” He heard his voice lower, a note in it
that didn’t belong in the kitchen. At least, not with Rosa
watching.
    He quickly turned back to Rosa to see her
hands on her hips. Her lips twisted, mocking him, as if she saw the
lust in his mind.
    He grinned again. After all, he was a man.
And he was lusty. And sometimes that led him into making mistakes.
Mistakes like Cherise.
    Some things just couldn’t be turned off,
even if they came up at the wrong place, wrong time and wrong
woman.
    And this was the wrong place, wrong time and
Katie sure the hell was the wrong woman. Too diffident. He always
went for the outgoing, decisive women. Not a woman who baked pies
in her dead grandmother’s cottage.
    Rosa’s derision changed to a scowl.
    Already his libido was causing problems.
    “We’ll do the pilot,” Rosa said. “I don’t
want to compromise until I’ve at least tried to sell my show.”
    He shrugged, the buoyancy sputtering out of
him. “It’s going to take a long time to shop it around. Do you even
know who to send it to?”
    Her chin went up. “My sons can find
out.”
    “They have connections at the cable
stations?”
    “The local one.”
    “And what will the local cable station
pay?”
    Rosa’s nostrils flared. “That will be
between me and the station. Once I get on the station, we’ll have
more shows to shop around.”
    He raised his eyebrows slightly, shook his
head slightly and lifted his shoulders slightly. Sending small
signs of doubt without being too actively negative. If she settled
for the local cable station, no way would it pay her enough to
afford him. Not in an area where the biggest employer was a cheese
factory.
    But when a women talked to him in that tone,
as if she was about to pour the nearest scalding cup of coffee on
his head if he dared disagree, there was nothing else to do.
    At least he’d be paid for the pilot. As he
told her, he was expensive. He doubted she’d be able to afford a
second time.
    He’d been so sure this would be it —the project to pull him out of his slump, to bring back
his mojo. He’d been wrong, but he didn’t allow himself to feel
regret. Coming here was still a good thing. Since Africa, he’d been
skating through an empty life with a smile. His eyes wide open but
not really seeing.
    And then his uncle had sent him the picture
and something about it had stunned him. Woken him. Made him want to
jump back into life.
    He’d thought this project was his fate, but
apparently it was just his catalyst.
    “You still want to start tomorrow?” Rosa
asked.
    “Tomorrow’s good.”
    A sound came from Katie’s throat, and he
turned his attention to her.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “Fine.” Her voice was too high and too thin.
“What time are you coming? I have pies to make and deliver in the
morning.”
    “What time do you want us to start?” He kept
his gaze on her face. Watching her wasn’t hard to do. The hard part
was holding back the charm. Because he wanted to charm her. Hell,
he already wanted to do more. His mind knew she was wrong for him,
but his body disagreed.
    He’d just come out of a situation where he’d
mixed business and pleasure. A mistake he didn’t want to repeat. He
was a man who