Desperately Seeking Fireman Read Online Free PDF

but she’d left a rambling note for Nita about all the things that needed to be done the next day.
    “Are you working for her?” Melissa asked with a frown, looking as if she was ready for bed too.
    Nita shrugged. “You know me. Control freak who likes to keep busy. I’ve been helping her out. It’s better than listening to Stryker rant about the injustice of it all.”
    With perfect timing, the man in question strolled in, a large tumbler of Scotch in his fist. Jeb figured he must have smuggled it in, and who could blame him. Senator Stryker was a tall, silver-haired, genial man with a voice like a church organ and a hunted look. He resembled an Episcopalian priest rather than someone who liked to pose in strapless bodysuits. But Jeb knew all too well that most people harbored plenty of secrets.
    The senator bestowed an embarrassed smile and a handshake on Jeb, and greeted Melissa as if they were old friends.
    “Welcome to our cozy little home away from home,” he told them blurrily, opening his arms wide, as if the place belonged to him. “We’ve been having a marvelous time, haven’t we, Nita?”
    Nita chewed at the inside of her mouth. He wondered why she did that, and if she even knew she was doing it. Just one of the many things he wanted to explore further.
    That night, after tossing ten lace-encased pillows off his bed, he considered his options. Number one: Gut it out and try to ignore Nita for the next few days. He crossed that option off the list. Why should he ignore her? He was free. Mr. Millionaire was history. Why should he resist his attraction to her? Number two: get to know her over the next few days, playing it casual and cool, seeing how it went. The problem with that was he wasn’t going to be here for long. He might run out of time and never get anywhere. Number three: lay his cards on the table. Tell her exactly what was on his mind, and put the ball in her court.
    Sure, she might be offended. But she might also like his honesty. Especially if he did some of that soul-baring you were supposed to do on dates. Except he’d do it Jeb Stone-style.
    Plan formulated, he fell asleep to the soothing scent of rose-petal potpourri.

 
    Chapter Four
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    U NFORTUNATELY FOR HIS plan, Nita was a hard woman to catch up with. Even holed up on a remote island, she managed to keep herself busy. When she wasn’t closeted with the senator, she was assisting Angie in the tearoom or setting up her computer reservations system or locating her knitting needles. While he liked to keep busy too, Jeb caught a whiff of the manic in her compulsion to keep moving.
    When Melissa and Senator Stryker disappeared to work on a background interview, Jeb saw his chance. He cornered Angie and Nita in the kitchen. Angie, who wore her snow-white hair piled as high as Marie Antoinette’s, was knitting away on a scarf, most of which was already draped around her neck.
    “Put me to work,” he told them. “I noticed the kitchen sink is leaking. I can fix that.”
    “Oh, I couldn’t possibly allow that,” Angie scolded.
    “She thinks you’re Gregory Peck,” explained Nita in a whisper.
    “Who does she think you are?”
    “Audrey Hepburn.” Nita snorted, but Jeb could actually see the resemblance.
    “Well, Audrey, I could use some help with the sink. Would you like to play fake plumber’s assistant?”
    “I suppose it’s better than playing fake dead movie star.” She smiled at him, and he got the sense that she’d softened toward him. Maybe his bathroom-locating abilities had impressed her.
    After they’d convinced Angie that Gregory Peck had no problem with household chores, he found the water shutoff, settled under the sink, and got to work.
    “What’s my role here?” Nita asked. She crouched next to him, peering under the sink.
    “If I say it’s to keep me company, will you leave?”
    “I have a million things to do . . .”
    “I need someone to hand me the tools,” he said quickly.
    “I have a