The Accidental Encore Read Online Free Page A

lashes
and quickly looked away. Get a grip, Allie. The man looked like a day laborer.
Was she really desperate enough to hit on a guy without health insurance or a
401k?
    Leah’s Uncle Craig had an interesting face. She wouldn’t
call him handsome, not with his unshaven jaw and the way his nose listed to the
left. The injury to his forehead looked fresh and deep. He worked outside; she
recognized the scent of a man who used his large, calloused hands doing
something physical. His wavy brown hair had streaks of gold, most likely from
the sun. His limp made her wonder if he’d injured himself in some sort of work
related accident.
    “So, Craig,” she began. “Do you live around here?”
    He lifted one shoulder as he’d done in the foyer and met her
gaze. He didn’t resemble his banker brother, except around the eyes. Mark’s
were an honest sky blue, while Craig’s seemed as still and murky as the deep
waters of the ocean. “Not far.”
    “It takes me ten minutes to walk to Uncle Craig’s house,” Leah
explained as she picked the croutons out of her salad. “But only if I cut
through yards and stuff.”
    Allie blotted her lips with the napkin after deeming the
lasagna too hot to eat. She angled her head toward Leah. “How was the wedding?”
    Allie watched as Leah wrinkled her nose. “It was okay.”
    “Okay?” Allie couldn’t imagine anything more romantic than
the handsome widowed father taking a second chance at love. “That’s all you
have to say?”
    Leah shrugged. “The ceremony took forever, but the party
after was kinda fun.”
    Craig laughed and drew her attention back to him. She was
surprised to see dimples around the edges of his full lips. He dug into the
heap of steaming lasagna he’d piled on his plate. “You should have seen her on
the dance floor.”
    Allie smirked at Leah. “Did you go a little crazy?”
    Leah shoved back from the table. Allie noticed her pink
cheeks as she pulled Parmesan cheese from the refrigerator and skulked back to
her seat. “I was just—Ms. Allie!” she said with a gasp. “What happened to
your face?”
    Allie instinctively lifted a hand and cupped her cheek.
She’d thought her bruise had faded when the perceptive girl hadn’t said
anything earlier. Of course, the light in the foyer was dim and she sat on the
opposite side during the lesson. “It’s nothing. I got into a car accident,
that’s all.”
    Allie felt more than saw Craig pull back from his plate.
“You.” He fixed her with a pointed stare as sharp as the tines on the fork he
aimed at her face. “You hit me.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “That’s how I know you. You ran the red light and plowed
your little silver sedan right into my truck.”
    Allie deliberately closed her mouth after it had fallen
open. She lifted her chin in the air and straightened her spine. “ You ran the red light. Mine was green.”
    “Green my ass!” He scraped his chair back and stood up
slowly, settling into a cocksure stance that had her rising from her seat. The
dog, with its boxy head and light eyes, got up and wagged his tail at his
master’s feet. She swallowed hard when she realized the dog resembled a
short-legged pit bull.
    “Listen,” she began with a weary look at the dog, “I don’t
know what you were doing instead of paying attention to the road, but you
obviously don’t know the difference between green and red.”
    “Right back atcha, sister.”
    Leah raised her hands in the air. “Whoa. Can we call a
truce, please?”
    Allie reached for her coat and spied her bag where she’d
left it, leaning against the kitchen island where Craig stood. She jerked her
arms into her coat and retrieved her bag, holding her ground even as Craig
refused to move and forced her to stand within inches of his broad chest. Damn
him, he smelled even better up close.
    “You don’t like the lasagna?” he asked.
    “I’ve lost my appetite.”
    “Ms. Allie,” Leah whined as only a child could do. “Please