All Shook Up Read Online Free PDF

up his throat. “In my part of town, you don’t rat out your employer, so what I made a lot of people was angry. Lankovich’s kid, who fancies himself a real hard-ass, made it his mission in life to make me pay. Most everyone else froze me out.”
    “I’m sorry,” Ben said sincerely. “That must have been tough.”
    Hell yes, it’d been tough. Robbie Lankovich had dogged his every move, and men J.D. had thought were friends had turned their backs whenever he came near. He’d never been in a position like that before, and hopedhe never would be again. But he only shrugged. “Yeah, well. Shit happens.”
    “So did the kid who fancied himself a wise guy find a way to make you pay for turning in his father?”
    “No.” His smile was colder than an Arctic wind. “He gave it his best shot, but his pretensions are a hell of a lot more impressive than his abilities.”
    They exchanged stilted conversation for a few moments longer before J.D. edged away. He took the financial books into the Eagle’s Nest, a small combination bar and cafe at the end of one the corridors off the lobby. It was a two-tiered room suspended over the valley, with long, floor-to-ceiling windows that provided a breathtaking view where the mountain dropped away. It also boasted a small balcony, tucked into the angle where the windows wrapped around the corner, but the French doors leading to it were taped off with an UNDER CONSTRUCTION sign. That immediately drew him, and he saw that the balcony’s entire front railing had broken off. He tested the knobs on the doors, wanting a closer look, but the doors were bolted.
    “It’s locked for safety considerations, sir,” said a voice behind him, and J.D. turned to see the man who had been behind the bar earlier.
    “We had a record snowfall last winter,” the bartender said as he gathered a couple of plates and glasses and swabbed down a nearby table. “Caused that section to give way.”
    “My guess would be it didn’t take much. Looks like the wood was rotted.”
    The bartender nodded. “Between snow season andspring and fall rains, it doesn’t get much opportunity to dry out, so most of the railings and deck surfaces are replaced every couple of years. Can I bring you something from the bar, sir?”
    “Yeah, I’ll have a Corona.”
    The man went back to the bar and J.D. grabbed a table near the windows. It was too late for the lunch crowd and too early for happy hour, so he had the place to himself. He nodded his thanks when the beer was delivered a few moments later, then opened the oldest ledger to start tracking the lodge’s financial history.
    He found it hard to concentrate, though, because his mind kept wandering back to Dru. He wasn’t sure if he had won that skirmish between them or lost it. He wasn’t exactly the smoothest act in town when it came to women, but he’d never had one look at him as if he were the last standing Neanderthal, either. He had to admit, though: it had given him a primitive satisfaction to rattle her cage.
    And where the hell had that come from?
    He’d gone to her office with every intention of having a businesslike conversation. But then she’d given him that phony smile, and with an instinctive screw tact combativeness, he’d jumped straight on the offensive. When she’d looked at him as if he’d just crawled up out of the gutter and made that crack about his tackiness, his last good intention had gone up in a ball of flame.
    She was no pushover, though. He’d thought she would be, had thought that he could utilize a little time-honored Rat City physical intimidation to backher down. But those big round eyes and soft, round body ought to come with a truth-in-advertising disclaimer—because she hadn’t hesitated to call him on it. And except for that one backward step, she’d demonstrated her willingness to duke it out right where she’d stood, toe-to-toe with him.
    And suddenly his quest to find out what the hell she and her relatives were