Seven Night Stand by Nicole Helm Read Free Book Online Page A

feeling surprised.
    Annie took a long drag from her cigarette and studied Vivvy. Nate hated the frankness in the study. Didn’t want Vivvy sullied with all the Harrington grime. Maybe that was why he liked polish on a woman; there was no excess of it in his life.
    “Yes. Most miserable twenty-eight years a woman could stand. Don’t let this one sweet-talk you or you’ll wind up knocked up and married to a no-good, cheating, lying, son of a—”
    “Mom. Get Grandpa and leave.” The words were ground out through a clenched jaw.
    Annie flounced out, smoke trailing behind her.
    “You’ve got all kinds of secrets, don’t you?” Vivvy’s expression was unreadable. There was no disgust or shock on her face, no pity or condescension, either. She seemed completely unaffected. Like a verbal shrug of the shoulders.
    “You’re not going to convince me putting her on TV is a good idea. Or that your viewers won’t eat that crazy up.”
    Vivvy stared at him, but no matter how hard he tried to find it, he still couldn’t see an ounce of disgust or contempt on her face. “She’d make good TV, yes. But why do you think that would be so bad for you?”
    “Right. Nothing like seeing your embarrassing family on TV. I’m sure that’ll really build our customers’ confidence.” Nate sighed. “I’ve got too much at stake, Vivvy. You’re not going to change my mind on this. Maybe you should…”
    Annie returned with Millard on her arm. “Come on now, Mill. You haven’t had your lunch yet.”
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “Not even for macaroni and cheese?” Her tone was no longer harsh or disgusted. Instead, with Grandpa, Mom’s tone was gentle. Nate could remember a time when she’d been that way with him, but that had been long ago.
    Millard’s lips pursed. “Not that box crap?”
    “Who do you take me for, Mill?” Annie said, shuffling him toward the door. “Homemade. In the oven right now. Let’s head on home. We’ll come back up tomorrow when you’re feeling more yourself.”
    “All right,” Millard agreed, stepping outside. “Guess I am feeling a little out of sorts.”
    For all her bluster about the horrible Harrington men, Annie had a soft spot for Millard. In turn, Nate had to feel grateful to his mother for stepping up as caretaker. Especially considering she was taking care of the father of the husband she hated.
    Without her, they would have had to put Grandpa in a nursing home last year. So even when his mother’s words had him seeing red, had him dreaming of kicking her off and out of everything with the name Harrington on it…
    He’d never do it.
    “She’s good with him,” Vivvy offered. “Gentle. I never would have guessed it, considering how awful she was to you.”
    Nate felt as though he’d just come out of a fight. He was tired and his whole body hurt from the tension of the last thirty minutes. “Vivvy, I think it’s best if you just go.” He was too tired to pretend today. “I can’t do this thing you want me to do. It’s not ever going to be a risk I can take.”
    She didn’t go, though. Instead, she touched his arm and moved to kiss him. The gentlest brush of lips, a simple offer of comfort. “Give me a chance to prove you wrong.”
    That was the absolute last thing he wanted to do, but her comfort—comfort from a near stranger—offered him something he hadn’t had in a long time.
    “I’ve known them too long for a week with you to change my mind, Vivvy.” Maybe a little harsh, but one hundred percent the truth.
    “You were going to let me watch you work. You do your job, and I’ll do mine, and we’ll see if we can’t meet in the middle.”
    Nate stared down at her, very much afraid of what he saw. A unique woman, strong and straightforward, easy to talk to, smart, sexy. But she wanted something he wasn’t about to give her. Letting her stick around and think she was going to change his mind was stupid.
    Maybe it was his turn to be the stupid one. What would it