Plain Jane by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online Page A

Screw it, she thought as she headed back toward the house.
    â€œI’ll see it all Saturday. I really wish I could stay longer, but I need to get home. I’ve got a couple of cases I need to go over. I enjoyed dinner and our little foray out here. You’ve really done wonders with the place, Jane.”
    â€œThanks. It’s been an experience to say the least.”
    They walked around to the front of the house, where Jane sat down on the porch step and put her arm around Olive. She loved this time of day, the soft purple shadows of evening, the quietness. She saw a nail protruding from the step she was sitting on. The step had been one of her weekend repair projects. She’d hammered the nail but hadn’t driven it home because it had bent. Her father had told her hammering nails was all in the wrists. Obviously, her wrists weren’t up to snuff.
    â€œIs it your intention to do a complete restoration?” he asked.
    She moved her foot over the nail so Mike wouldn’t see it. Suddenly she felt terribly inadequate. Maybe her mother had been right, and she really was a misfit. Plain Jane who couldn’t quite cut it according to her beauty-pageant mother.
    She thought about Connie Bryan again.
    Jane heaved a sigh. “I’m not sure what my intentions are at this point. There are days when I love this old house and days when I hate it because it needs so much more work.” She rose to her feet. “I’ll see you Saturday.” A moment later she was heading up the steps to the porch.
    â€œJane!”
    She glanced over her shoulder.
    â€œHow about we take in a movie next week? Say, Thursday, after I sit in on your session. We could grab a bite to eat either before or after, too.”
    She stared at him, openmouthed, her heart pounding. “You mean a date? Sure.” A date with Mike Sorenson. La-di-da. Wait till she told Trixie. A date. Things happened on dates or afterward. Uh-huh.
    â€œYeah, a date. I come by, ring your doorbell, and say, are you ready? You’re on, lady.” In two quick strides, he was on the step next to her, taking her face between his hands and kissing her lightly on the lips. “Thanks for inviting me over,” he said, gazing deep into her eyes.
    â€œYou’re welcome,” Jane gasped. Her tongue felt like it was glued to her teeth. She wondered if her hair was standing on end with the electricity ricocheting through her body.
    â€œOkay,” Mike said, smacking his hands together as he danced from one foot to the other. “See you Saturday midmorning.”
    All she could do was nod.
    Once he was gone, Jane ran into the house and sat down on the bench in the foyer. He’d kissed her. A light, friendly kiss, but a kiss just the same. To think, in high school he would have gagged at the thought of even touching her. Funny, she thought, how things change. How people change.
    A half hour later, she looked up from her musings to realize the house was completely dark. “You should have said something, Olive, instead of just letting me sit here. Come on, let’s put some light on the subject.” Jane meandered from room to room, turning on all the lamps and overhead lights so she could see the house through Mike Sorenson’s eyes. She did what she’d seen Mike do and made a telescope with her hands. Perhaps the shelves were a hair off, but they certainly weren’t crooked. Trixie and Fred’s books weren’t listing to the side. Stephen Rhodes’s books were nestled alongside one another and upright. She uttered an unladylike snort. Just her luck to be attracted to a nit-picking perfectionist.
    She turned away from the bookshelves and studied the parlor. It was the only room in the house that had been completely restored to its original grandeur. One day she hoped to replace all the furniture with fine antiques.
    Olive barked and ran upstairs. Jane followed her up with the intention of changing into