Southern Exposure (Southern Desires Series Book 2) by Jeannette Winters Read Free Book Online

can deal with a broken plate or cup. But if you think this house is in need of repair now, you don’t want to see what would happen if you let me near a power tool.”
    “For all you know, I’m not any better.”
    Oh, you probably could drive a nail into a board with your bare hand. Those are working man hands. Strong. Powerful. Damn I want to feel them on me. She cleared her throat. “Then you better tell me now before we head to town and pick up supplies.”
    “Don’t worry your pretty little head. I’m very good with my hands.”
    She didn’t miss the curl of his lips as he spoke. Just keep them where they belong. A sample of what you’re offering will open a gate I may not be able to close afterward. If I think I feel alone now, it would be one hundred times worse when you leave. That thought confused her. She was used to being alone. When her father was sick and spent a lot of time sleeping, she was always alone. She had felt alone at times but not lonely. But in the year since his death, that had morphed into loneliness. Am I feeling this way just because he is the first man to banter with me in years? She had to stop thinking about this. Mark Collins was a temporary person in her life, here to do a job, then move on to the next.
    “Let’s take a tour of the empty apartments and head to town.” She wiped her wet hands on the towel and left the kitchen. Distance was what she needed right now. And maybe a cold shower.
    Mark took notes of all the work needed on the empty apartments. Since she was going to show the top right one at the end of the week, he figured that was where he needed to start. What he hadn’t expected was the amount of work left. No plumbing hooked up in the kitchen or the bathroom. It was convenient that there also wasn’t a floor in the bathroom yet. What she was asking to happen couldn’t be done in a few days by one person. Even two wasn’t going to be easy. Going to deliver some bad news. Hope she’s ready for the truth, ’cause that’s all I deal in.
    “Better cancel your appointment. There is no way this is going to be ready by Friday.”
    “I thought you said you were good with your hands?”
    “I am.” He held them up. “If you notice, I only have two. What you need done to make it safe for someone to walk through will take at least two people. That doesn’t count getting it all pretty looking with paint. That’s making it safe.”
    He saw the look on her face. Of course, she was disappointed. Who wouldn’t be? But she wasn’t living in reality if she thought for one minute this could work.
    “You don’t understand. It can’t wait, Mark. I need. . . I have to. . .” She turned away and walked to an open window, standing there quietly.
    You’re right; I don’t understand. So tell me. “What do you need, Hannah?”
    Still not facing him, she sighed heavily. “I need the income.”
    Money. It isn’t always about money. “It’s one month at the most.”
    “One month that determines if I have this place or not. I can’t afford to lose that money, Mark. Without it, the bank will foreclose on the house. This is only an old house to you, nothing more. But not to me. If the bank takes it, then I’ll have failed and lost the only thing I have left of my father.”
    Her voice was soft as she spoke, but he could feel how voicing the words out loud brought her immense pain. He’d known things had to be financially tight when he heard what he’d be paid. Practically room and board. If he smoked or drank, maybe enough to cover that as well. But he wasn’t there for the money. He was there for his sanity. He could walk away now and find another place to decompress, but leaving her, knowing she was going to lose her home, would haunt him.
    Mark could easily open his wallet and give her the money to float this place several months. But he’d only hurt her pride, which he knew she had in spades given her refusal to let him do her dishes. There was so much more to