Kiss Me Twice by Jami Alden Read Free Book Online Page B

almost anything in life, but she never believed that anyone"except maybe Kit"ever really liked her. For a long time she hadn't even liked herself.
    Mike—she thought—for a brief time, he had liked her. She was sure of it.
    Two weeks, she thought, wrapping her arms around her knees and rocking a little on the king-size bed. Two weeks to figure out how to apologize to Kelly for a lifetime of being a terrible sister. Two weeks to muster up the courage to tell Mike the truth about what happened that night. And pray that in that time she would grow a thick-enough hide to survive their likely rejection.
     
     
    "Lauren, what the fuck are you doing here? You're supposed to be over at the Hillside place finishing the railing," Mike yelled as he got out of the truck. He slammed the door and stomped over to Lauren MacLean, the carpenter they'd hired after Nick moved to San Francisco.
    Lauren froze, nail gun in hand, as she prepared to attach siding to the house Donovan Brothers was building in an exclusive gated community.
    Mike glared down into Lauren's sweat-streaked face. "I told you we need to get that railing done by the end of the day today so we can start working on the deck!"
    Before Lauren could answer, a big hand gripped hard on his right shoulder. "Mike, lay off her, okay?" Mike turned to meet his younger brother Tony's glare.
    "Look, I told her to get over to Hillside and—“
    "And I left you a message that the materials weren't going to be in until Monday so I called her over here."
    Mike looked down at his cell phone. Sure enough, the screen indicated he had a new voice mail. Shit.
    "I think you owe Lauren an apology," Tony said.
    Tony's condescending tone set him off again. He thumped Tony hard with two fingers to the chest. "From now on, don't reassign people. You may be my brother but I'm the boss, and I decide how to prioritize our schedule."
    "Is that so? Last time I looked the name was Donovan Brothers--"
    Mike pushed Tony's shoulder, hard. "Don't start with me, Tony""
    Tony pushed him back, sending Mike back a couple of steps. “You don't want me to start? Don't come out here yelling at Lauren like she doesn't know her ass from her hammer""
    That was it. Mike charged Tony. The tension, the fury that had been boiling in his gut finally erupted. He'd been wanting to pound his fists into someone for two weeks, and now he had his chance.
    They grappled like Greco-Roman wrestlers, staggering around the work site as each tried to knock the other down and get the upper hand.
    Suddenly Mike felt something"or someone"attach to his back, accompanied by a harsh female voice blasting in his right ear.
    "CUT IT OUT." Arms wrapped around his neck, a feminine hand splayed against Tony's face, and a foot lodged against his chest as Lauren tried to pry them apart. "Stop it right now, you two."
    Tony broke free first and stepped back. But his stance was still poised, aggressive, as though ready to charge at the first provocation.
    "You can get off me, Lauren," Mike said. Or rather croaked, as Lauren's strong forearm was still clamped across his throat.
    "Not until you promise to ease off."
    "I will if he will." Mike indicated Tony with his chin.
    Tony threw up his hands. "I will if he stops being an asshole."
    Lauren slid off Mike's back and came around to stand between them. "I don't know what's up with you two lately. You," she whirled on Mike, "have been acting like you never got over the hangover from Nick's bachelor party."
    "Yeah," Tony said. "You've been acting like a dick."
    "And you," Lauren said, a virago in a tank top and jeans as she turned on Tony, "have been baiting him at every opportunity. Now I know it's hard for you, being men and all," she said with a derisive sneer, "but why don't you two work this out like adults so the rest of us can get some work done."
    She picked up her nail gun and went back to work. Thankfully, the rest of the crew followed her example.
    "She's right," Tony spoke first. "You've been