Enlisted by Love by Jenny Jacobs Read Free Book Online Page A

said. “Surely you can provide a few details.”
    â€œThe car would have to be a five-year-old Kia,” she said descriptively if not entirely accurately. She finished with her notes and popped the tape measure back in her bag.
    â€œI’m your client,” he tried. “You can tell me.”
    â€œThere’s nothing to tell. I have to work the details out and get Tess to do a basic design. I draw like a six-year-old, and I can’t deliver something like that to an iron monger and expect reasonable results.”
    He drifted over to her side, hoping to catch a glimpse of those drawings she mentioned, but she clapped the notebook closed and put it away in the bag, too.
    â€œI don’t need pictures, Greta,” he said. “Words will do.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Words.”
    He was standing very near her and suddenly he knew they were not talking about interior decorating anymore.
    â€œIf you don’t like words,” he said, bending to speak next to her ear, “then actions also work for me.”
    â€œThen you don’t mind if I get to work,” she said. Her voice wasn’t all that steady and she seemed to leave the storage unit a lot faster than was strictly polite.
    He smiled as he watched her go. Things were looking up.
    â€¢ • •
    â€œThat is a monstrosity,” Michael agreed, setting the photo aside. Greta knew he only agreed with her because he found it expedient to do so whenever he had nothing at stake. For that reason, his words did not make her feel vindicated. She tucked the photo back into its folder. Michael was always very tactful when he humored her, so she didn’t call him on it. Tess would have, but then Tess and Michael enjoyed engaging in minor skirmishes followed by kissing and making up. “You want me to make benches to match the monstrosity?” he asked.
    They were in his office at his carpentry shop, and he had already photocopied her notes and stacked them in a folder, which he had placed squarely in the middle of his desk to show that he would devote full attention to the project. He had his computer booted up, ready for inputting information when he had any. Michael’s efficiency was one of the things Greta admired most about him. She was pretty sure it wasn’t Tess’s favorite quality. Ian was also very efficient. He had written her a check on the spot. That was her favorite one of his qualities, that he was a paying client. Not that dimple in his cheek when he smiled. Not —
    She shook herself. “Right,” she said. “And two stools for the ends — you know the kind, with the seat that curves up on the sides, to give them an Asian look. Only make the seats wide enough to accommodate American males.”
    â€œOkay,” he said. She noticed the sidelong look he gave the folder and its unusual contents — had she ever hired an iron monger before? “I appreciate your doing this for Ian, Greta. No one else would how to handle his eclectic collection.”
    Eclectic
. That was one word for the monstrosity. Then the meaning of the word “collection” entered her consciousness.
    â€œYou mean there’s worse than this?” she asked, her voice rising in pitch.
    â€œNo, of course not,” he said too quickly, turning to the computer and opening up a spreadsheet program, as if that might deflect her from grilling him.
    â€œYou are such a bad liar,” she said to his back.
    â€œI’m sure everything will be fine,” he insisted, leaning forward to stare intently at the computer screen.
    â€œSpill it,” she demanded, getting to her feet. She thought better on her feet.
    He took a deep breath and gave it up. “Have you seen the curios?” His expressive back said as much as his face would have. She stopped in midstride, halfway around the desk.
    â€œCurios? What kind of curios?” Greta croaked, then cleared her throat. “No,