Hooked Read Online Free PDF

literally gasp, he bade, “Go into the bathroom and close the door.”
    Her bearings crashing in on her from the deepness of his voice, her eyes flew open. Through the repeated knock on the door, she said, “I can’t hide in there. You don’t know Delbert.”
    Having no choice, she made a dash for the bed and scrambled down. She tucked herself beneath the mattress frame, making sure the full width of her skirt hem had been pulled in and hidden with her. Scooting into the middle, she roused the dust bunnies from the floor. The flying tufts of lint made her think she had to sneeze. She buried her nose in the wad of her petticoat and peered over the cloth.
    She couldn’t see the man’s feet. He’d gone to the door. It opened and Delbert gave a hearty greeting.
    â€œGood afternoon, sir. My apologies for the delay in fetching your luggage. As you can see, the matter has been rectified. I’ll put them where you like.”
    The porter entered the room and came straight to the bed and stopped. Meg stared at his shoes. Lace ups. Calf-skin bluchers. In need of polishing on the right heel.
    â€œCriminy sakes alive,” the man declared in a put-out tone, “I wondered if my luggage had been left on the train and was headed for the nether parts of the region to be seized upon by vagabonds.”
    Meg’s mouth fell open.
    â€œNot to worry, sir,” Delbert assured. “Where shall I put your things?”
    â€œThe bed will be fine, my good fellow,” the man directed. She couldn’t see him. He must have remained by the door.
    What happened to him? His words had just shattered her illusion of his perfect manliness. Mr. Oh-So-Wonderful suddenly had the speech of a mildewed scholar.
    Meg’s nose itched. She rubbed it in the muslin.
    Delbert walked away, then returned once more and set articles on the bed; it creaked some. The springs were slightly worn.
    Two bare feet came close, then disappeared into the bathroom. He came back and stood by the bed once more. She studied his masculine toes. Nicely shaped. The nails clean with perfect trimmed whites. Some dark hairs over the tops of his knuckles. Low arches. She thought they were very beautiful for being feet.
    She must have not heard him correctly before. Any man with feet like these wouldn’t say “criminy sakes alive.”
    â€œThanks,” Mr. Wonderful said as a jingle of change exchanged hands.
    She couldn’t possibly be so lucky Delbert would leave without giving his full routine. Not him.
    â€œSir, allow me to show you the features of this room.”
    Meg’s forehead lowered and bumped quietly on the floorboards. Nope. No luck for her.
    â€œThis is one of our better rooms. You’ll notice the bed is quite comfortable, it being of the iron brass frame variety rather than solid oak, which can tend to warp.” Delbert walked on. His shoes were bufferedby the large rug in front of the mantel. “We keep wood for the fireplace year-round in case of a cold spell. With this being late March, one can never tell. The temperature drops quite considerably at night.”
    â€œI’ll remember that. Thank you for telling me.” Bare feet walked by the bed and toward the door once more. “If I need anything else, I’ll call on the front desk.”
    â€œBut, I haven’t shown you the bathroom features. Modern plumbing—just a year old. I can see you’ve tried out our shower bath. Was it acceptable?”
    â€œDandy.”
    Meg held onto a frown. Dandy?
    She just couldn’t put that vocabulary together with the looks and sound of the man. But then again, the men of Harmony had trouble putting charm and culture together with her.
    Thuds sounded as the porter went to the bathroom, undaunted by the man’s dismissal. Delbert Long was never put off. “This way, sir, and I’ll demonstrate in case you overlooked anything.”
    The man must have sensed