Spellbound Falls by Janet Chapman Read Free Book Online Page A

she growled, trying but failing to get unstuck. “You step one toe in this bathroom and I’m throwing your crutches in the lake.”
She heard a masculine chuckle. “Maybe if you had used that tone on your employee yesterday you wouldn’t have needed my help.”
Olivia shot backward out of the closet so fast she would have slammed into the opposite wall if a large hand hadn’t gotten between it and her head at the last second.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you,” Mac said, crouching down on his heels to smile at her. “You weren’t at breakfast.”
Olivia shuddered, though she was unsure if it was from the thought of breakfast or that new gleam in Mac’s eyes she couldn’t quite read. “I skipped breakfast this morning. I don’t particularly like tofu pretending to be sausage, and I hope if you don’t either that you shared your opinion with Eileen.” She smiled, trying to disguise how disconcerted he made her. “I’m afraid the real reason we let you and Henry come early is because Eileen needed a couple of guinea pigs for her new menu.” She shook her head. “It’s one thing to serve all-organic food, but I don’t know why she feels it has to be low-fat, too. I’ve warned her that we’re going to have a rebellion on our hands the first week we’re back in session if she insists on serving that stuff.”
Good Lord; there she went talking nonstop again! What was it about this man that turned her into a nervous ninny?
“Don’t worry,” he said, that gleam intensifying. “Henry voiced his opinion. Eileen told me she thought you were cleaning cabin eight, but when I finally
found
cabin eight it was empty.” He arched a brow. “Is there a reason all your cabins are numbered out of order?”
He’d been looking for her? “They’re numbered according to when they were built. And I’m sorry I forgot to return your jacket yesterday,” she flat-out lied, figuring he’d been looking for her because he wanted it back sometime before summer.
But as pathetic as it seemed in the stark light of day, shehad in fact slept with his jacket spread over her blankets, unable to resist the feel of its substantial weight holding her all night—even as she’d fantasized it had been the man who owned it instead.
So much for not being a lonely widow.
She tried getting to her feet. “It’s on a peg at home. I’ll go get it for you.”
He placed one large hand on her shoulder to stop her. “There’s no hurry. That’s not the reason I was looking for you.” He sat down on the floor beside her and gestured at the water heater. “John and Eileen spent most of breakfast worrying that you don’t have anyone to help you get Inglenook ready for the upcoming sessions.”
Olivia looked down, saw that her jeans were filthy from crawling under the cabin, and brushed at the dirt. “I plan to go into town this afternoon to see if I can find someone local who might be willing to work with me for a few weeks.” She sighed. “Although anyone who would have been available is already helping the sporting camps’ owners get ready for the summer tourist season.”
He picked up the book she’d tossed on the floor, looked at its title and then at the water heater, then over at her. “John mentioned that might be a problem for you, so I said I’d be willing to fill the vacancy.” He grinned. “Eileen immediately hired me, and after offering to take Henry to town with her and Sophie, she told me to report to work.”
Olivia could only gape at him. Eileen had
hired
him?
He actually reached over, placed his finger under her chin, and lifted her mouth closed. “Should I assume from your expression that you can’t quite picture me doing an honest day’s work, Olivia?” he asked quietly.
“Huh? No, of course not. I just figured that for you an honest day’s work would be in a boardroom, not down on your hands and knees in mud,” she said, gesturing at her pants as she dropped her gaze. “And we can’t even