Alone With You Read Online Free PDF Page B

you’d like to see and I’ll do the same and we’ll see where they cross over and go from there? We’ve both got the Jasper Burger and Jasper’s Big-Ass Steak.”
    “Steak cut yet to be determined,” she said firmly.
    He made a few notes on his paper. She was right about the fact that he’d been overly focused on attracting the sledders and maybe not enough on building a community restaurant. The residential area was so scattered he wasn’t sure they could sustain a steady business all year long, so his idea was to make as much money as possible during the snowy months and cut down to a skeleton menu and crew during the off-season. But maybe people would be willing to make the drive for a good, affordable night out.
    Mostly, though, he watched Darcy making her list. She was cute when she was lost in thought. He could do without the constant tapping of her pen against the paper, but the way she bit at her bottom lip made him want to nibble at that spot, and with her free hand she twirled curls into bits of her ponytail.
    She hadn’t said anything earlier, when he’d forgotten to let go of her hand after the slippery floor experiment. She hadn’t pulled away or commented on the fact, and he wasn’t sure what that meant. To him, it just felt natural to hold her hand. But he couldn’t take for granted she felt the same because the last thing he wanted her to do was pack up and leave.
    “What?”
    Damn, she’d caught him staring. “Nothing. Just staring off into space, I guess.”
    She went back to her list and he forced himself to focus on the paper in front of him. It wasn’t working. “Did you know the potato famine lost Ireland about two million people, between death and emigration?”
    Looking up from her paper, one eyebrow raised, Darcy shook her head. “No, I didn’t. Where did that come from?”
    “Oh. I wrote down French fries.”
    “Ah, potatoes. I get the connection.” She started tapping the pen on the paper again. “How did you get to be such a trivia guy, anyway?”
    He shrugged. “It was just my mom and me growing up and she had to work, so after school I’d walk to the library and hang out there until she picked me up. After my homework was done I’d pull a random book off the nonfiction shelves and start reading. The almanacs were my favorites because there was a ton of information in little bite-size pieces.”
    “You should go on Jeopardy. ”
    That made him laugh. “I don’t think so. Not a fan of being in front of an audience, and trust me, under pressure I forget every bit of useless knowledge I’ve ever picked up.”
    “What happened to your dad?” As soon as she asked the question, Darcy’s cheeks flamed and she waved her had. “Never mind. I take that back. Not my business.”
    “No, it’s fine.” He liked that she wanted to know more about him. “He took off when I was young enough not to remember him. I was in high school before my mom got married again, and he’s a good guy. They’re in Vermont, where my stepdad teaches, and I try to visit them a couple times a year. My mom and I have always been pretty close.”
    She smiled and warmth rippled through him. Damn, she had a great smile. “My parents live in a small town about forty minutes from Concord. I wanted a little more excitement, or at least the ability to see a movie in an actual theater, so I moved to the city after school. I see them at least once or twice a month.”
    “What do they think of you being up here for a month?”
    “They’re excited for me. Proud that Kevin thought enough of me to ask me to do it. They weren’t quite as thrilled about me living with a stranger. I should probably warn you I have pepper spray.”
    He laughed and scribbled on his pad of paper. “Making a note of that.”
    “They like Kevin, so they decided to trust his judgment and not lock me in my old bedroom.”
    “Do you think they’ll come up for the opening?”
    “Oh. I don’t know. Maybe?”
    “You should