Man of the Month (Willowdale Romance Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

gotten there, but it was only seven in the morning. Jeanne didn’t usually come in until eight-thirty or nine.
    But sure enough, there she was. That vanilla rose perfume of hers told him so even before she stepped into the kitchen. She jumped when she saw him.
    “I didn’t think you’d be here.” Then her face morphed from surprise to anger. “Because if I knew, I would have immediately wrung your neck. Boiled you in oil. Stabbed you to death with the potato peeler.” Her voice came out in a surprisingly evil whisper. “The old rusty one out in the display cabinet that I bought for your birthday.”
    “Kill me with the peeler?” He chuckled nervously. “Wouldn’t that take a while?”
    She arched an eyebrow. “Exactly my thought.”
    His hands went up. “Huge blow to our business, killing the co-owner. Let me guess, this is about last night?”
    “Yes. Last night and eco-friendly Sam.”
    His heart quickened. Just how friendly did Sam get with her? Was he going to have to punch him out? “Yeah. What happened?” He tried to sound calm.
    She sat on a stool and folded her hands in her lap and looked as mad as she had the time he’d promised to take her pecan pies out of the oven while she dashed off to the store.
    Burnt pecans smell bad. Real bad.
    She cocked her head. “Should I start with having to pick him up because he doesn’t have a car?”
    He grabbed the empty milk jug and launched it into the nearby garbage can. “I told you he rode a bike.”
    “Because his car was repossessed.”
    “Oh. Ouch.”
    She nodded. “Don’t worry. He’ll try to get one when he gets a job.”
    That sounded familiar. Had his brother mentioned that? “But other than that, how’d it go?” He braced his hands on his thighs.
    Her toe started tapping. “I learned a lot about deer hunting.”
    He flinched and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if she really would wring it.
    “And deer gutting.”
    “I’m so sorry, J.”
    “Don’t you ‘J’ me. And if you were really sorry, you’d give me $65.”
    “For what?”
    “For the bill I had to pay when his credit card was declined.”
    He ran his hand down his face. “Oh, damn.”
    “And now you know why I don’t do blind dates. And won’t do blind dates ever again.”
    He stood up and walked to her, bracing his hands on the counter on either side of her. She leaned back, so he moved closer.
    “Now come on,” he said, lowering his voice. “You can’t give up on man-of-the-month after the first month. You promised. I thought he was a good candidate.” So why was there a zing of guilt zipping through him? “I’ll find someone better next month. I promise. I’ll look into his background more.” He stepped back and held his arms open for a hug. “Forgive me?”
    She hesitated and then stood up and folded herself into his arms. Which was really like throwing gas on the fire in his heart. He needed to find another guy and fast, before he backed out of this resolution, too. Sharing Jeanne was harder than he’d imagined.
    He let her go and missed the feel of her against him. It was just like pulling off a warm blanket before you’re ready to haul your sorry self out of bed. Dude, don’t think about bed when she’s this close. He clapped his hands together. “So, I’ve got twenty potential clients to call. I’m working on the Elegant Eats resolution, too.”
    “You don’t waste any time.” She opened the fridge and pulled out the cake left over from the holiday party they’d catered for the bank, cutting herself a big slice.
    “What do you think about approaching Sarah O’Hara for some work? I bet she does plenty of entertaining in that mansion of hers.”
    “Silly, boy, you can’t be the biggest fish in town if you’re willing to settle for a small town’s best.”
    “True. Too bad. She could introduce us to a lot of people.” He considered telling her about the discrepancy he’d found in the accounting books. The one that showed them