The Dixie Belle's Guide to Love by Luanne Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

for far too much of your loved one’s problems.”
    “And you won’t take any of either.” The man brought out the fire in her, for sure. Fire and foolhardiness. Still, once she’d blurted her true opinion out she couldn’t take it back, so she rushed on. “You accept none of the blame. None of the worry.”
    “Why should I?” He rubbed the heel of his hand down his jeans, his gaze distant. “In the end what Jillie does is her call, too. Not much I can do about it.”
    “Should that stop you from trying? If my family was in the kind of disarray yours is in, and I could do anything, anything to help them, nothing short of an act of God could keep me from it.” Now it had gone personal. She blinked and cursed the tears welling in her eyes. “Of course, I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do—”
    “Uh-oh.” He laughed.
    “What?”
    “When a Southern woman tells you she is not going to tell you what to do that is precisely what she has in mind. Stridently, ardently, no holds barred, she’s going to tell you just what she thinks, what you should do and probably offer to kick your butt into gear to get it done, as well.”
    “Maybe we should stick to talking about the Palace renovations.”
    “Good idea.”
    “Like I said, I want to keep things uncomplicated.”
    “If that’s really what you want—gut the place and walk away. Can’t get much simpler than that.”
    “That’s your ultimate solution, isn’t it?” She wasn’t just talking about the Palace. “Trash it all. Move on. Don’t look back. Leave trying to make things better to somebody else.”
    “That’s all I committed to do here, Rita. Consult on the remodel and put you in touch with the professionals who can do it.”
    How could she argue with that? She looked around her. He made it sound so easy when to her it was the most difficult task she’d ever faced—getting herself on the right track for the rest of her life.
    “You want this?” Will had snatched the last chicken leg off the platter she had brought down for their lunch and held it up.
    “No.” She folded her arms not caring that it made the bib of her baggy overalls gap down toshow her cleavage in her scooped-neck T-shirt. “As a matter of fact I don’t want any of this. If you recall this was all your sister’s doing. Hers, Cozie’s, and yours. Not mine.”
    “Uh-huh.” He made no pretense of looking away from her breasts. He didn’t even have the decency to act the teeniest bit contrite at wangling her into accepting his assistance. “What about the chicken?”
    “What about it?”
    “Best damn fried chicken I ever had. Best meal I’ve had since I don’t know when. Mind if I polish it off?”
    “No.” Good gravy, how could you stay mad at a man who liked your cooking that much?
    “Guess if you can’t make a pig of yourself at a place with a princess of pork as its symbol, where can you do it?” His fork scraped the plate as he got up every last bit of potato salad for one man-sized bite.
    Rita sighed and plunked down on the stool next to his. “I do like to see a man who enjoys eating.”
    “Way you cook, darling, it’d be a sin not to enjoy it.”
    “Still, seems like nobody enjoys eating anymore, they’ve gotten so all-fired worried about fat and cholesterol and carbohydrates.”
    “I could stand to think about those things myself.” He hooked one thumb under the waistband of his jeans but kept a firm grip of the chicken leg in his other hand.
    “You?” She snorted. She set out to laugh deep and sexy in the back of her throat but snorted instead. Still, she tossed her hair back the way she had intended to if she’d actually pulled off the husky flirtation. “What would you worry about? You’re fine just as you are.”
    He leaned on the counter with both elbows, his gaze fixed on her. “Not like I was when I played football for the Hellon Hurricanes.”
    “Why would you want to be like that? So you’re a little thicker in the middle, a