Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) by Inés Saint Read Free Book Online Page A

here should also be obvious. I own thirty-four properties.”
     
    Sam waited. Two beats later, Cassie’s eyes widened. “This is one of your properties?” Her voice came out like a high-pitched squeal. The sound and the flash in her eyes would’ve been enough to make a sane man head for the door.
    Sam simply nodded.
    Cassie threaded both hands in her hair and began to pace. “Look at the state it’s in. You’ve had it for months and you haven’t even cleaned it out. How could you?” She stopped pacing and abruptly turned to him, baby blue eyes blazing. “You’re fired!”
    Sam couldn’t help it, the corner of his mouth went up, even though he knew it would make her even more furious. He waited for her brain to catch up to her mouth.
    She shook her head. “You know what I mean. Look at it, Sam. It’s in tatters. It’s obvious you don’t care about it.”
    His smile disappeared. He’d bought this house because he’d loved Cassie’s grandmother like she was his own. After a brutal winter, his business was teetering on the edge. Everything was riding on the prompt sale of the twelve properties he and his brothers had worked hard to ready. He’d dislocated a shoulder, herniated a disc, and lost more nights of sleep than he could count, working tirelessly on each and every property.
    She kept asking him to trust it all to her, yet she didn’t trust him . He took a step forward. “You could’ve bought this house from your family long before it deteriorated into this. You didn’t. That’s how much you cared.”
    She stared at him for a long, loaded moment. “Coming here was a bad idea,” she said before sidestepping him and rushing out the front door.
    He caught up to her, grabbed her arm, and made her face him. Her eyes were wet and her cheeks were streaked with tears. He was torn between hugging her to him and walking away forever. And why not just walk away? Not one day had passed and already she was out the door. “See how easily you give up?” he asked, his eyes not leaving hers.
    Her eyes narrowed and she wriggled her arm free. “I meant coming to this house. Where do you find the nerve to accuse me of giving up, you self-centered jerk? I’m the one who caught you with your tongue down someone else’s throat, and you don’t trust me ?”
    Her words made him see he would never get through to her. If working together brought them fresh pain, it was best they went their separate ways. “Whatever you decide, see that the contract is on my desk tomorrow morning by nine. Any later and all the properties will go to the others.” He walked away from her without looking back.
     
    Cassie tried to rush back down to the park, but her heels kept sinking in the mud. Scrubbing her face dry of tears and taking deep breaths as she walked, she considered proving Sam right and forgetting about it all.
    But by the time she opened the café door, she’d scrubbed her face and calmed herself down enough to fake an okay smile. The smile became genuine when she noticed an old friend, Marty, inside.
    “Next time, I’ll tell you what it is you’re temporarily craving. There’s a new method I’ve been experimenting with, and it should lead you in the right direction,” Ruby was saying to Jessica. She looked back at Cassie. “It should lead you in the right direction, too.”
    “Hey, freckles, Johnny told me you were back.” Marty engulfed Cassie in a huge, warm hug that had her tears threatening to fall once again. She was such a sap. “When are you going to stop by for a visit?” he asked when he set her down.
    “Your house or the tavern?” Cassie asked. Rosa, his grandmother, had proudly told her about how Marty had bought Huffy’s Tavern and turned it into one of the hottest pubs in the area. Marty was younger than her by two years and he was Johnny’s best friend. He’d been an integral part of the “gang” and Cassie was so proud of his success she could burst.
    “Same thing. I practically live