Josie Day Is Coming Home Read Online Free PDF

was all.
    “If it’s any consolation,” he called, “I
admire your willingness to take this all the way. You must be a hell of a poker
player.”
    As he’d predicted, she couldn’t resist answering.
    “Poker?”
    “Because you’re willing to bluff. Do they teach you
that in Realtor school? Along with wheedling, finagling, and pushing the
hard-sell?”
    “Hey, watch it. My mother is a real estate agent.”
    “Then we’ve probably met.” Idly, he admired the
curvaceous shape of Josie’s backside as she bent to examine the house’s
old-fashioned lock. Yeah, too bad she was crazy. Or determined to get him to
sell Blue Moon. Either way, it wasn’t good. He had plans of his own for the
place. He wasn’t ready to sell yet. “No hard feelings.”
    “You keep that in mind. After I prove you
wrong.”
    He grinned. She had spirit, he’d give her that. Also, a
jumble of ponytailed red hair he could easily picture spread across his pillow.
Some men had a weakness for gambling or drinking or working ninety hours a
week—like his father. They found those things completely irresistible. Luke
felt that way about redheads. Especially, suddenly, the real estate-selling
variety.
    “Bluffing your way into hundred-year-old houses must be
hard work. When you’re finished, I’ll get you a cup of coffee,” he
offered.
    Given the circumstances, he thought that was pretty
magnanimous of him. Given her rolled eyes and the impatient jangle of her keys,
she was less than bowled over by the gesture.
    “Don’t do me any favors.”
    He already had. Ordinarily, he’d have given her the
boot—nicely—from the get-go. But something about her intrigued him. Either
that, or he was bored with nailing shingles to the roof. He’d been working on
that damned splintery cedar for three days now. He wasn’t half done yet.
    Another sound came from the porch—this time, jiggling
hardware as Josie rattled the doorknob. He’d have sworn he heard her grinding
her teeth, too.
    “Having trouble?” he inquired innocently.
    “Yes.” An over-the-shoulder glare. “Someone
won’t shut up long enough for me to concentrate.”
    He guffawed. This was a lot more fun than shingling.
    “Come on, Josie. Give it up. We both know why you’re
here.”
    “To hire myself a new handyman?”
    “Ouch.” As though wounded, he put a hand over his
heart. “Take it easy. If you were my boss, I’d be filing a workers’
comp claim right now.”
    “What, for hurt feelings? Please. You’re obviously not
keeping up with the job. You need to fix this lock.” She jangled the
doorknob again. “There’s something wrong with it—like so many things
around here. All things considered, I know I shouldn’t complain. And I
obviously haven’t seen the whole place yet. But it looks as though I’ve got a
regular money pit on my hands. I was really hoping…oh, never mind.”
    Her critical glance took in the house’s weedy flower beds,
the run-down split-log siding, and the hole in the porch roof he’d been
repairing when she’d arrived. Her obvious disregard for the last piece of
Luke’s former legacy stung his pride.
    “Yes, ma’am.” He shoved both hands in his back
pockets, then gazed up at the springtime skies. “Whatever you say. I’ll
get right on fixing things.”
    Josie humphed and got back to the lock.
    She was inventive, he admitted to himself. Pretending to own
the place—probably in the hope that he, as caretaker, would open the door for
her himself—was a new one. Unfortunately for Josie, she didn’t have all the
information Luke did. Beginning with the fact that he owned Blue Moon.
And ending with the fact that he had no intention of opening the place to
strangers until he was damned good and ready.
    Especially strangers who dissed the place.
    The estate had been closed up for a long time. His arrival
in Donovan’s Corner had incited a certain amount of interest—there was no doubt
about that. But Luke had plans of his own for the