Head Over Heels by Susan Andersen Read Free Book Online

hell to make of her. Just when he thought he had her neatly pigeonholed, she did or said something that upset his perception of her. He kept expecting her to be a replica of her sister, but she seemed to be her own woman instead.
    Watching her interact with the guys in the corner reinforced that. From all accounts, Crystal had worked this bar with a sexy sort of come-on-and-get-me-boys attitude. Veronica’s demeanor was more lay-a-hand-on-me-buster-and-you’ll-be-pulling-back-a-nub.
    Coop hoped she wasn’t counting on her tips to make the rent.
    And he’d sure like to know what the hell her game was. He’d almost believed in her concern for Lizzy. He probably would have bought into it entirely if she’d bothered to show up before yesterday. The woman was no doubt a salesman in her non-Fossil life.
    He wasn’t aware of the strength of his curiosity, however, until she came back to the bar with the order and he heard himself ask, “So, what is it that you do back in the world?”
    She blinked but then said, “I’m a restoration specialist, which is more or less an interior decorator with a history degree.” A quick smile came and went. “I justfinished a castle in Scotland that’d been modernized to such a degree you could hardly recognize its origins. It had a thirteenth century exterior and a 1950s interior.”
    â€œI take it you’re not married, then?” Coop took a step back, his backbone snapping militarily erect. Where the hell had that come from?
    She must have wondered the same thing, for her posture stiffened. “And you assume this because…?”
    He shrugged. “It sounds like you have a job that takes you out of the country for long periods at a time.”
    â€œAnd it didn’t occur to you that I might have someone who’d understand how important my career is and support me in it?”
    â€œOh, hell, yeah—that was my first thought. Then I asked myself why Mr. Understanding wasn’t here lending you a hand. And I considered the fact that you’re not wearing any rings.”
    She looked down at her bare hands, then back up at him. “Well, aren’t you Mr. Observant. But I have to hand it to you—when you’re right, you’re right. I’ve yet to meet the man who’ll make me exchange my freedom for the opportunity to wash his socks—although I’m sure you can imagine how very tempting the thought is.” She gave him a swift once-over. “How about you? Are you married?”
    â€œ Hell , no.”
    A smile quirked the corner of her mouth as she picked up the tray he’d assembled. “That sounds definitive enough.”
    You don’t know the half of it, Princess . As far as he could see, marriage was just one big heartache waiting to happen.
    He watched Veronica carry her order over to the table. By rights, he shouldn’t even care enough about Eddie to be looking for the proof to clear his half-brother’s name. Because back when Coop was eight, his mother had divorced his dad to marry Eddie’s father.
    Mary Cooper Blackstock had been a dyed-in-the-wool snob, which was ironic considering her own beginnings. But perhaps that was the point—she’d dragged herself up from extremely humble roots and was determined to go even higher up the social ladder. Only once in her life had she stumbled on her climb to the prominence she felt she deserved, and that was when she’d married his pop in the heat of the moment. When that heat had burned itself out, she’d turned her efforts into changing a guy who’d been perfectly happy being a mason into her idea of a more suitable mate.
    Coop was damned if he’d ever let that happen to him.
    He would give his mother this, though: She’d actually stuck it out with them for several years before she’d become upwardly mobile again. But when she’d found Thomas Chapman, a man who’d fit much