Time to Pretend by Michele Zurlo Read Free Book Online Page B

her forehead. She brushed it away with an impatient hand.
    “That’s the blue thing?” At Daniel’s nod, she continued. “The man who came this morning. He wrote up an estimate, and now the insurance company must approve the claim. He covered up a section.
    He said it would do the trick until he could get his company out here in a few weeks.”
    Daniel’s jaw dropped. “A few weeks? That damn tarp was flapping in the wind when I got here. It wouldn’t have held for more than a day. Idiot didn’t even nail it down. What’s the name of the company? Did you get the name of the guy who came out?” He was angry. She knew nothing about building, and now some dickhead was taking advantage of her. He’d beat the shit out of the bastard before he’d let him scam Alaina. Plus, he wouldn’t trust anyone with the repairs except for Evan. One look at the magnitude of what needed to be done and Evan would certainly agree with him.
    That carefree, relaxed expression Evan usually sported would tighten and crumble. His mouth would compress to a grim line, and he would set to work.
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    Alaina stepped back, distancing herself from his anger. She shifted her shoulder bag to the other side. “I fail to see why any of this concerns you.”
    He held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. He didn’t want to fight with her. She was so sensitive to hostile moods. “Lainie—” She stalked up the three steps and unlocked her back door. “I didn’t ask you to come here, Daniel. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and of my house. I don’t need a man to come over and show me how it’s done.”
    Shoving the door violently, she set her bag inside and whirled on him. He mounted the bottom step, which put them face to face.
    “Alaina—”
    She jabbed an angry finger into his chest. “You think wearing a tool belt that pulls your pants down so they ride extra low and placing a phallic symbol in plain sight right there in your groin area is the kind of advertisement that will make me swoon at your feet and worship your male superiority, but you’re wrong! I’m not stupid, Daniel. I can see through your posturing and your accessories, and I’m not impressed!”
    He adjusted his opinion of provoking her temper. With those light brown eyes flashing, she was a feast for the eyes. The tightness in his jeans wasn’t going away. He climbed another step, forcing her to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her chest brushed against his.
    “You’re not?”
    She crossed her arms, barricading her breasts from him. “No. I’m not.”
    “That’s too bad,” he said, running a hand through his hair and hiking up his tool belt, which he had never before considered a seductive accessory. “I wore it just for you.” Her mouth opened and closed, but she didn’t move, not one inch.
    He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he wasn’t going to make the first move. He couldn’t give her that ammunition to throw at him later.
    Finally, she settled on something. “You’re impossible to talk to.” 48
    Michele Zurlo
    His arms itched to hold her close. The grin that wouldn’t leave his face had everything to do with the fact she wasn’t retreating. If she truly didn’t like him, she would have moved away by now and slammed the door in his face. “I only asked who your contractor was.
    You’re the one who brought up sex.”
    “Oh, hell,” she said. Reaching up suddenly, she fisted his hair and yanked his lips to hers. Before Daniel could process anything, her tongue was in his mouth, introducing him to her sweet brand of heaven.
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    Chapter 5
    Alaina had lost her mind.
    Arriving home to find Daniel at her back porch wearing jeans that showed off every sinew and bulge, after pictures of him wearing that tool belt and no shirt haunted her dreams for the past two days, his proximity had proved too tempting.
    From the moment she saw Daniel, she had wanted him to pull her close and kiss her