Hold On to Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

she’d slapped him on the shoulder and smiled. ‘Buy it. You’ve got the skills and what you can’t manage yourself we’ll get the relatives to do. Buy it and do it up and make money on it. It’ll be fantastic when you finish.’
    â€˜I might want to stay; you never know,’ he’d said.
    She’d grinned wickedly and knowingly at him. ‘C’mon. I know you. When you make a tidy profit you can move back to the ‘burbs to a proper family home. With a backyard where your kids can run around.’
    â€˜I don’t have any kids.’
    â€˜I know that. But you will one day. You’re not the best uncle in the world for nothing, you know. And when you have those bambinos you’ll want to be closer to Mum and Dad and Nonna. Right in the belly of la famiglia.’
    She was joking and they both knew it. While she and Joe and their baby Francesca lived in the suburbs, they spent every weekend down at Middle Point where Joe had grown up and where they had a house. His big sister had managed to escape the place she’d grown up and that was his plan too. When he’d told his parents that he’d bought a house, Sonia and Paolo had almost burst with pride, although his mother had complained it was a little too far away from the family home for her liking. Thirty minutes in peak hour traffic. Just far enough away to avoid the accidental, we-were-driving-by-and-saw-your-light-on visits from his parents. He loved them like crazy, but please. After renting with mates for years, it was about time he had his own place. He was twenty-nine years old, for fuck’s sake. That was way too old to be sharing a bathroom with the slobs he played soccer with.
    He glanced out the window and up to the first-floor balcony, edged with intricate wrought iron. ‘I’ve got a balcony,’ he said to himself as he slid out of the car, slammed the driver’s door closed and strode to the front gate.
    Just as he reached his hand out to the latch, a hand covered his.
    â€˜Mr Morelli.’
    â€˜Hello, Amy.’ His real-estate agent slowly removed her hand from his and stretched it out towards him. ‘Congratulations.’ If he wasn’t mistaken, and he never was about women, she let her hand linger just a little longer than was strictly necessary. When she pulled back, he considered her invitation. She was blonde and her body was wrapped tightly in a business suit, the neckline plunging a little too low for discretion. He glanced down at her legs. She would have been considered tall without the sky-high heels she was wearing. When his gaze drifted back to her face, there was a knowing smile on her lips.
    â€˜All yours.’ She opened the gate and ushered him into the small front garden. She jangled a set of keys in the space between them and he held his open hand underneath so she could drop them into his palm. When she finally did, she brushed her fingers against the muscled pad of his thumb.
    â€˜Thank you.’ The metal was warm in his grasp.
    â€˜Pretty exciting day, huh?’ Amy’s smile was flirtatious and she raised her eyebrows. ‘You sure have a lot of work ahead of you.’
    They both turned to the tall brush fence. The half that was left standing had slumped inside its wire supports and there was a gaping hole at one end where someone had clearly tried to set it on fire.
    â€˜That’s exactly why I bought it.’
    She studied him. ‘Remind me. Are you turning it over for a quick sale or will this be your forever house?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ he answered politely but coolly.
    â€˜Living in the city sure has its perks but you might want the quarter-acre block one day, when the kids arrive.’ She glanced at his left hand.
    â€˜Maybe.’ Maybe not. He held out a hand and shook hers, trying to delicately end the conversation without looking like an arsehole. ‘Thanks for dropping by to give me the