Fixed Up by Maddie Jane Read Free Book Online

Though the health angle is a good one. Why don’t we say I have a heart condition and I’m not allowed to drive? You have to drive me there and because it’s so far from home it’s easier for you to stay than to leave and drive back three hours later …’
    â€˜You are such a schemer.’ Luke clamped his lips together, swallowing his laughter. ‘It might work if I didn’t have better things to do with my day than lurk around with my mother.’
    â€˜For love, it’s worth it. And because you’re such a control freak you can oversee my learning.’ Shelia winked at him as she stuffed the fabric samples and paint swatches willy-nilly into a plastic bag and thrust them back to Luke. ‘I can’t wait.’
    â€˜That plan’s as transparent as this bag. If Harper sees through us we’ll both look stupid. She’s not the type who likes to be messed with.’ That was for sure. She’d have his guts for garters first.
    â€˜Happy to look stupid if it’ll win my boy the girl of his dreams and open the door to the revolution.’
    Luke scratched his head, frowning at his mother’s enthusiasm. He could never deny his mother anything—hadn’t been able to since his father’s death—but attending Harper’s class? That was pushing it. ‘Don’t you dare mention any of this to Joan. She’s even more obvious than you are when it comes to matchmaking.’
    â€˜Of course darling. You can rely on me not to let the cat out of the bag.’ Shelia’s blue eyes twinkled with mischief.
    Luke groaned. ‘Whose terrible idea was this?’ His mother, subtle as a sledgehammer, would do more harm than good and Harper would run a mile.
    But desperate times required desperate action. He couldn’t think of anything else to do. Harper was all about work. This way he’d at least get to see her and have another crack at getting her to like him. Joan and Shelia were two perfectly legitimate clients, genuinely wanting to learn DIY skills.
    As plans went it was flaky; but it was a plan.
    And it was all he had right now.

Chapter 5
    â€˜Firsts’ always made Harper nervous. First dates, first kisses and her first session with each new group of students. Today’s class was particularly nerve-racking. In the last minute rush she’d spent more time publicising the course than she had preparing the teaching program.
    From the brief enrolment information she’d received she could see her new students were another mixed bag. The class, advertised as painting and decorating, had attracted predominantly older women, inexperienced, and not really sure what they wanted to learn. Maybe they were at a loose end over the summer holidays? Maybe DIY had become trendy among the older set? Whatever the reason, Harper hoped it would go well. With her background in interior design, painting and decorating were her forte and she loved sharing her knowledge with women, both young and old.
    She stood up the front of the class, reading over the enrolment list again. Two names blared out at her: Joan and Shelia Colton. Funny, ever since she’d met Luke Colton she seemed to think she saw him everywhere. Suddenly, tall, dark-haired guys were in her supermarket, her favourite café, walking past her door making her nose twitch and her heart beat a little faster. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help checking to see if it was Luke. And she couldn’t explain the pricked balloon feeling when she realised it wasn’t him. He was long gone.
    It simply didn’t make sense that the memory of him still made her pulse race like a formula one Ferrari, when she’d given him the flick.
    Loud footsteps clacked up the corridor, spurring her to open the classroom door. Greeting the newcomers, she settled them at stools behind the workbenches. Polite small talk and shuffling bags filled the room while they waited for