One Week with her (Ex) Stepbrother (Eden Manor #2) Read Online Free

of trying to get over you.”
    “Don’t
make up fairy tales, Vanessa. This is something that’s never going to happen.”
    “You
don’t know for sure. It’s worth exploring, anyway.”
    “How
do you suggest I do that?”
    Vanessa
visibly tried to suppress a smile. “Maybe just grab him and kiss him, and then
see what happens.”
    “Yeah,
right.” Missy couldn’t help but feel a shiver of excitement at the possibility,
although she quickly stamped out the feeling.
    “I
guess I wouldn’t be able to do something like that either. Maybe you can just
hedge around the topic. Ask him about relationships, why he’s never been
serious about anyone. See what comes out.”
    Missy
shook her head. “It’s hopeless, Vanessa. You know it as well as I do. And I’m
not going to do anything to ruin the relationship we do have. He’s too
important to me. And my dad.”
    “I
know. I don’t want you to mess things up either. But that doesn’t mean they
can’t get better.”
    Smiling
at her friend, Missy said in a resigned tone that exactly matched her mood. “In
this particular situation, I think there’s only so much better they can get
without blowing apart completely.”
    ***
    Missy
headed over to the garden shop after breakfast. She wanted to work for an hour
or so, clearing out the email and straightening her desk, before she went to
show a new real estate client a couple of houses in the area before lunch.
    When
she arrived, the first thing she did was search her desk top for Zach’s list.
She shuffled through the three piles of paperwork, plus the loose papers in the
middle of the desk, but she couldn’t find anything that looked like a list from
him.
    She
was still searching when he walked into the building. He was flushed and
sweating—he’d obviously been working hard outside—and she felt a familiar surge
of attraction that was harder to push away because of her conversation with
Vanessa earlier. “I can’t find a list,” she said, turning her eyes back to the
papers so she wouldn’t stare at him too obviously.
    “Yeah.”
He came over closer. “I found it on the floor over there. It must have blown
off.” He dug into one of his pockets and offered her a crumpled half-sheet of
paper.
    “Oh.”
She accepted the paper and stared down at the list. “Okay.”
    “Sorry
about before,” he said, his voice wry, slightly sheepish. “I was mostly mad at
myself.”
    “I
know.”
    “Are
you pissed at me?”
    “Of
course not.”
    He
reached out to tilt up her chin, raising her face toward his. His hazel eyes
were searching, slightly concerned. “What’s the matter, kiddo?”
    She
swallowed, fighting an overwhelming surge of emotion. “Would you please not
call me that?”
    His
brows drew together. “Sorry. What’s the matter, Missy?”
    “Nothing.”
    “You’re
not mad at me?”
    “I
said I wasn’t.”
    “You
need to tell me if I did something to upset you.”
    “You
didn’t do anything.”
    “It
feels like I did. I don’t like it.”
    Her
knees were starting to wobble. “I can’t do anything about how you feel. I’ve
said twice now that I’m not mad.”
    “I
want to know what’s going on with you. Something is different.”
    “Nothing
is different.” She cleared her throat and dropped her eyes, screaming at
herself to pull it together before she revealed something truly mortifying.
    He
was about to speak again—she could feel the tension in his body—but the door to
the office opened just then and her dad bellowed out, “Missy!”
    She
jumped and jerked away from Zach. “I’m right here.”
    Her
dad had salt-and-pepper hair and a grizzled face. He frowned in her direction.
“What’s the matter?”
    She
let out a growl of frustration. “Would you all stop asking me that? I’m fine .”
    Her
father met Zach’s eyes, and she knew they shared a silent, questioning look. “Okay,”
her dad said at last. “I’m glad we’re all fine. Now, someone bring me that
stack of