Beauty and the Greek Read Online Free PDF

intolerant.
    â€˜Quite possibly.’
    Beth’s polite smile grew wary as she watched his wide, sensually sculpted lips curve into a smile that did not reach his dark eyes; the speculative light in their obsidian depths was making her feel deeply uneasy.
    â€˜But of course you didn’t mean that, did you? Do I make you feel uncomfortable?’
    â€˜No, of course not,’ Beth lied. ‘I didn’t intend to be rude, but I have a lot of work to do.’ She would be lucky, Beth reflected, to make it home before seven—actually, eight—she corrected, recalling the meeting she had scheduled with the manager at the nursing home.
    The request to see her had worried Beth, especially asthe manager had been reluctant to elaborate further on the phone, but he had reassured her that there was no problem with her grandmother.
    She had a horrid feeling that the news might involve a fresh hike in the fees.
    The move to the nursing home had been Gran’s idea; she had not even informed Beth that she had booked herself in until the arrangements were made. Beth had been horrified by the idea but her doubts had been soothed when Prudence Farley had said she only intended staying a few weeks.
    That had been six months ago and Gran showed no inclination to move back home. The place, she confided to Beth, was like a five-star hotel. At home, she could go a week without seeing anyone but Beth and the vicar’s wife; here, there was never a dull moment and she had made so many new friends.
    Beth loved her new zest for life but she was worried; the place was not only run like a five-star hotel but they charged similar rates. Her gran remained cheerfully oblivious to the fact that her savings had run out in the first three months and, when the subject came up, Beth, concerned about worrying her grandmother, was deliberately vague.
    It was a constant battle to meet the costs and keep the house going. Beth was only living in three rooms of the big sprawling Victorian mansion that her grandmother had come to as a new bride, but the upkeep was a financial drain that gave her nightmares.
    She called it a nightmare; the bank manager called it her get out of jail card.
    When she had pointed out that she wasn’t in jail, he had said darkly, ‘Not yet.’
    Beth wasn’t sure if he was joking or not but none of his dire predictions had made her change her mind. She wasnot selling up to a developer; the house would be there when Gran decided to come home.
    The bank manager had been visibly frustrated by her intransigent attitude.
    â€˜Miss Farley, your attitude does you credit but it is hardly practical. Let me be blunt. Your grandmother is a very old lady; it seems unlikely she will ever come home. And these figures—’ he sighed as he flicked through the papers laid out in front of him ‘—I’m afraid they suggest you cannot pay for your grandmother’s care and eat.’
    Beth, in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, had joked, ‘I need to lose weight.’
    He had not seen the joke. ‘I would suggest there is no choice. When your grandmother gave you Power of Attorney it was a situation like this that she had in mind.’
    Beth had thanked him for his advice because she knew he meant well but she had remained adamant she would not sell up or contemplate the possibility of her gran not coming home.
    She knew that Gran loved the place as much as she did. The sprawling Victorian house had, in estate agent speak, a wealth of original features but very little in the way of modern conveniences. Beth had lived there since her parents’ death in a train crash when she was seven.
    â€˜You want me to leave so that you can weep in privacy?’
    The casual question made her stiffen and brought her eyes back to his lean face. How did a man who had not given her the same degree of attention he afforded the office furniture on his visits come to know about the knot of misery